Difference
by orange1996x
Summary: There is a difference between loving someone and being in someone with some one. For one person, it can take a lot of time to figure this out but when they do, it is beautiful.
1. Chapter 1

Ok, so I know some of you will be angry about another story being uploaded without finishing the others but they will get finished as I am working on them now. But I half of this yesterday and half of this today and I really wanted to share this with you. This story will be about three chapters more maybe and then after an odd chapter or two here or there as extended epilogues.

I hope you enjoy it and it would be amazing if you could tell me what you think by reviewing. Thank you.

* * *

It was an extremely warm Saturday in early June and a twenty-six year old Gabriella Montez was very excited because for the first time since she had moved to the Californian coast, she would be meeting up with her best friend since high school, Sharpay Evans, who had moved out here for college.

Gabriella was currently pulling on a pair of light wash, denim shorts and a loose, grey, v neck tee shirt over a black bikini which was a little smaller than she would have liked but Sharpay demanded her to wear it as apparently she needed to get back onto the market. Her black, naturally curly hair was pulled up into a ponytail. Of course, before all of this she had applied sun screen. A pair of flip flops were packed away into her bag and a pair of low top converse donning her feet, showing off how tan her slender yet strong legs were.

"Xav!" Gabriella called as she walked out of her bedroom that she was planning to redecorate after the boy's rooms were finished, "Xavier!" She shouted again.

"In my room!" He shouted back.

Gabriella walked into his open room, "Very handsome," Gabriella smiled, sweeping his dirty blonde locks away from his forehead as she crouched down in front of him while he attempted to tie his shoe laces, "Can you do it?" She asked.

Xavier's eyebrows were crinkled together in concentration, "Kinda," He mumbled, as he moved the laces but was not successfully making the bow.

Gabriella sat on the floor and tapped her knee for him to place his foot to make it easier, "That's it," She encouraged, "And around and pull that bit through here," She pointed and watched as he pulled and the bow stayed. She smiled widely as his little head shot up and a huge grin spread across his face, "Well done. Now let's go or Shar will be going crazy."

Xavier laughed as he now understand how bold his mother's best friend could be, "Mom?" He asked, looking up at her as they walked out of his room.

"Yeah baby?" She said, her hand running over his head gently, looking down at him.

"Will me and Noah see dad again?" He asked, his face now looking toward the floor.

Gabriella again squatted in front of him, "I'd love him to come visit you guys. Do you remember me telling you that he moved to New York a couple of weeks after we got here?"

Xavier nodded.

"That's all the way across the country so I hope when he's free he'll see you," Gabriella said with a half smile, running her thumb across his cheek, "But for now, I think us three can make it work," She playfully pulled him towards her and pretended to fall backwards causing him to laugh as she tickled.

"Mom," Xavier laughed.

Gabriella kissed his forehead before sitting them both up, "We'll fine," She promised.

Xavier nodded with a smile, "I know."

Gabriella stood up, "Go see if your baseball hat is in the bag I put outside my room while I'll go see if your brother is ready."

"Ok," Xavier nodded.

Gabriella walked down the hall a little more to her youngest son's room: Noah, "Noah, my little pumpkin, are you ready to go?" She said in an excited voice.

Noah was curled up on his bed looked up at his mother and smiled cutely, "Yeah," He answered, sitting up.

Gabriella had chosen to put him in a pair of striped swim shorts and a blue tee shirt with a darker blue baseball cap and a pair of sneakers, "Let's go then handsome," She walked over and scooped him up dramatically, releasing a laugh from his little body.

Gabriella and Xavier walked down the street of their new house which they had been in for three weeks now. Gabriella held Noah as they walked the twenty minute walk to the beach as it was such a nice day. Gabriella was also carrying a bag full of towels and necessities and she was beginning to regret the idea of walking.

Gabriella shifted Noah on her hip slightly, "How's school Xav? Have you made any more friends?"

Xavier shrugged, "People are nice there. They're not mean and I've made a few friends. We play superhero's," He said with a grin, "And soccer and basketball."

Gabriella smiled down at him with her sunglasses on, "Good," She answered simply, "Basketball? I bet you're the tallest guy playing," She teased.

Xavier laughed, "No, I'm small compared to others."

Gabriella laughed and gently pulled him closer to her, "What are your friend's names?" She asked.

"Same ones since I started: Harry and Cole."

"We'll have to have them for dinner one night and you can play some soccer or basketball together," Gabriella suggested.

"Really?" He asked in an excited voice.

"Really," She laughed.

The rest of the walk was filled with talks about school and the weekend and Xavier's new friends. Once at the beach, Gabriella took hold of Xavier's hand as it was reasonably busy as she suspected it to be however, it was only noon and there was plenty of comfortable space to relax and for Xavier and Noah to play close by without being too close and getting irritated.

"It's busy so if you let go then stay close, ok?" Gabriella said to Xavier which he nodded at, "Can you boys see Sharpay?" She asked, kissing Noah's forehead.

"No," Xavier answered.

Gabriella continued to scan the beach but couldn't see any sign of the blonde woman. She decided to set up camp quite close to the sea where the soft sand was but also with the damp sand a couple of feet away to build sand castles but not too close to the sea where there dry clothing would get wet.

The black-haired beauty quickly made sure Xavier had sunscreen on before he went quickly to start building sand castles. Gabriella placed his tee-shirt in the bag. She awkwardly reached for a beach towel from the bag to lay it down and place Noah on, where she cuddled up again.

"You ok, bubba?" Gabriella asked from above him as she peeled off her tee shirt and shorts to leave her slim, toned body on show. Her shoes and clothing were placed in the bag also. She sat back down, cross legged and moved so her head was blocking the sun to block it from Noah who she placed in her lap and he leant against her. Gabriella looked up to see Xavier patting sand together in different shapes.

"Noah," Gabriella cooed, "Are you sleepy?"

Noah nodded, closing his eyes and snuggled further into his mother's embrace which Gabriella willingly tightened. She hoped Sharpay would turn up soon as she was bringing the sun umbrella so she could put Noah under it to sleep comfortably.

"Noah! Come play!" Xavier shouted, looking up at his family with a large grin.

"He's tired, Xav," Gabriella answered.

Noah wiggled a little, "Play," He mumbled, seemingly pushing away his tiredness as he wanted to play with his older brother.

Gabriella laughed, "Ok," She knelt down in front of Noah and helped him take off his tee-shirt, she doubled checked his sunscreen before she let him run off to his brother.

/

"Man, its busy today," A muscular twenty-seven year old said in an enthusiastic voice.

The Afro-American man sitting down behind the wooden outside counter in the shade which a huge umbrella gave, "Yeah, have we hired all our stuff out?" He questioned.

"Yep," He grinned, standing out in the sun in a muscle tee and a pair of blue and white striped board shorts bare foot.

"Troy, isn't that Shar?" The shaded man asked.

Troy Bolton, looked over at where Chad Danforth, his best friend, was pointing, "Oh yeah," He reached up his arm in a large wave.

Chad laughed and joined in the wave too until she had stopped scanning the beach and noticed them. She grinned and waved back, walking towards them with an umbrella under her arm and a large light pink bag.

"Hey guys," Sharpay greeted, placing her things on the floor before hugging Troy and then Chad.

"Hey, what are you doing here on your own?" Troy asked.

"I'm meeting a friend actually. Gabriella, you know; the one I told you about who moved here last month," Sharpay corrected.

Troy and Chad nodded like two well-trained dogs which made Sharpay laugh a little, "Yeah, I'm meeting her here but I can't seem to find her anywhere," She pouted and looking around the beach.

"What does she look like?" Chad asked, looking around too.

"Dark hair, pretty, like 5'3. I only have photos from high school so they won't help," Sharpay murmured, narrowing her eyes beneath her large sunglasses, scanning away from the water and up a little, "Hey there she is!" She exclaimed with a wide smile.

"Where?" Chad asked.

Sharpay pointed to Gabriella who was leant back on her hands, her legs bent slightly and her toes digging into the sand while her hair hung loose and sunglasses covered her face.

"Nice," Chad coughed lightly after he received a slap on the arm for admiring the woman's petite, slim and toned frame.

Sharpay rolled her eyes as the two men watched her quickly stand up which resulted from a "fuck" from Chad as his eyes noted Gabriella's curvy hips and therefore curvy behind and slightly muscled thighs. She then watched their jaws drop as she ran down the beach and scooped up a running child and continuing to run as another little boy reached for her leg; all three of them laughing as the water splashed around them.

The three of them watched as she held Noah under his arms, just above the water so he could kick water at his brother who in turn started to splash water as the two while his head was turned away, laughing.

"Who are they?" Chad asked, looking at Sharpay.

"I'll introduce you, looks like they didn't set up camp far away either. I'll be back," Sharpay said as she began to walk down the beach while Gabriella who swung Noah by his hand between her legs was walking up the beach as was Xavier who was laughing hard as Noah's screwed up grinning face.

"Gabs!" Sharpay shouted.

Gabriella looked up at hearing her voice, smiling when she located Sharpay and waved. She gave her a puzzled look as she beckoned her over. Both Xavier and Noah noticed Sharpay and took off running towards her and Gabriella followed, not taking her belongings as it wasn't far away and she could easily see them from her position.

"Hey boys!" Sharpay said enthusiastically, crouching down to hug them both.

They two of them gave her a hug back, standing next to each other with big smiles on their faces. Noah looked behind him, wandering where his mother was.

Gabriella picked up Noah's baseball cap that had fallen off as she walked over. She leant down to push the hat on and pulling the front his face to make him giggle. Gabriella grinned before greeting Sharpay and giving her a hug.

"Hey," Gabriella smiled widely as her blonde friend hugged her.

"I haven't seen you in so long!" Sharpay exclaimed.

"I know, I'm so glad I'm here," Gabriella smiled, sharing her friend's excitement at seeing each other.

Sharpay nodded quickly, "Taylor lives literally a ten minute drive from you too," She grinned.

Gabriella eyes widened, "No way. The last time we spoke was to make up after that huge argument we had over…" She glanced down at her children before mouthing 'Jake' referring to her children's father and her ex-husband.

Sharpay's brows raised, "Wow. That was one crazy day."

Gabriella nodded, her full lips pressed together, "Mhm."

Gabriella looked down as she felt two little arms wrap around her calf and she saw Noah run in between her legs trying to run away from Xavier who was pretending to chase him.

"Mommy!" Noah squealed as Xavier faked a move and went the opposite way.

Gabriella shook her head while Xavier slipped in the sand causing Noah to laugh loudly. She looked up at Sharpay, "Boys," She simply commented.

"I can't believe they both turned out to be boys, I wanted at least one to be a girl," Sharpay pouted, faking a sad expression.

Gabriella laughed a little, "I'm happy I got these two."

"Even if their dad is a jackass?" Sharpay said bitterly.

Gabriella's eyes widened and she looked down to ensure they didn't hear Sharpay talking that way about their dad, "Shar, please don't say things like that in front of them."

Sharpay gave her a sad smile, "Sorry babe."

"Why did I have to come over here anyway?" Gabriella asked, adjusting her bikini top as it was showing slightly too much boob if her liking.

"Oh!" Sharpay said as if reminded, "Gabs, whose two are, like, Zeke's best friends," She said, moving to the side so Gabriella could turn a little and see who Sharpay was talking about. Sharpay walked them a little more towards the two men, Gabriella kept her eye on her children as they continued walking.

/

"Fuck, she's so sexy," Troy grumbled, licking his lips as his eyes which were behind his shades grazed her body.

"Yes," Chad eagerly nodded.

"I wonder who the kids are," Troy asked, looking at the woman's perfectly slim and toned body, especially her stomach.

"Guess we'll find out," Chad shrugged.

Sharpay smirked at the two men who were practically gawking at Gabriella however, as Gabriella had been in a relationship for 8 years and had barely slept with more than three men, Sharpay guessed that she wouldn't notice especially when she kept checking back on her playing children.

"Hey," Sharpay greeted again as they came to a stop in front of the two men, "So this was who I was looking for earlier, this is Gabriella and Gabs these are two of Zeke's best friends, Troy and Chad."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you," Gabriella smiled beautifully.

"Yeah, you too. We probably would have met you at the wedding but we hear you moved here?" Chad asked.

Gabriella nodded, "About a month ago from New Mexico."

"Wise choice," Troy grinned.

Gabriella giggled, "Yeah, it got too hot in Alberquerque in summer. I practically had to keep Xav and Noah inside or permanently in the pool," She shook her head, "Which Jake hated cause he'd have to be in the pool when they wanted to go in-" Gabriella stopped, "Erm, sorry," She cringed.

Sharpay laughed, "Xavier and Noah are her kids and Jake is her ex," She clarified.

"Mom!" Gabriella heard Xavier's voice shouted.

Gabriella frowned and quickly jogged off to wear Xavier was kneeling next to Noah who was curled on his side crying, "Hey," She soothed as she sat in the sand and pulled Noah onto her lap while he held his hands up on his face, "Baby, what's wrong?" She asked worriedly.

"We were playing and my knee hit his head. Mom, I didn't mean too. I'm sorry," Xavier quickly apologised, kneeling next to Noah, touching his leg gently.

That brought a small smile to Gabriella's face, Xavier was so protective over Noah and she loved it, "It's ok, baby. It was an accident," She puckered her lips and kissed Noah's head as she held him like she did when has a baby.

"I'm sorry," Xavier mumbled with a frown.

Gabriella looked up and touched her hand to his face, "Xav, its fine. Don't worry," She smiled, bringing him into her side to cuddle as Noah's cries calm down and his face was pressed against her chest.

"Dad would be shouting right now," Xavier mumbled.

Gabriella tilted her head to lay on the top of Xavier's, "I know baby," She rubbed his arm.

Noah wiggled in Gabriella's grasp so she could see his face.

"Ah, there's my other boy. I was wondering where he went," Gabriella joked, tickling his stomach.

Noah giggled, holding his hands to his belly.

Xavier smiled as he watched his mom tickle his brother gently, "I'm sorry Noah."

Noah smiled up at Xavier in forgiveness.

"That's my boy," Gabriella mumbled into Xavier's ear before she kissed his head, "And you, have you stopped crying now?" She teased, blowing a kiss to his forehead.

Noah nodded and giggled. Gabriella wiped his cheeks softly to rid them of his salty tears.

/

"So, the two boys are Gabriella's kids?" Chad asked to confirm.

Sharpay nodded, "Yep, Xavier is six and Noah is three, sweetest kids you'll ever meet," She raved.

Troy smiled gently, "They're cute. How old is Gabriella?" He asked.

Sharpay smirked, "Yes, she is a young mom Troy. She's 26, she had Xavier a month before she turned 20."

"Holy shit," Chad murmured, "She look so good for having two kids."

"Mhm," Troy hummed as he watched her with her children, "So this ex of hers?"

"Is totally out of the picture. I think they were together for about eight years and married for five," Sharpay informed.

"Whoa," Chad mumbled.

"What a lucky guy to have her for eight years," Troy said, looking back at Sharpay.

Sharpay nodded, "She's the kindest woman I've ever met like seriously she's the nicest, sweetest person. Shame he couldn't appreciative her because she loved him a lot especially when they had Noah, she worshipped the ground he walked on. I just want someone to do that to her," She shrugged.

"Maybe she'll find some Californian dude to appreciate the sand she walks on," Chad grinned.

Sharpay and Troy laughed, "We're going for an hour lunch soon, wanna come with? Bring Gabriella and her kids too if you want."

/

Around a large round table sat Gabriella with Noah on her lap, Xavier, Sharpay, Chad and then Troy. They had ordered and the waiter was handing out the food, with a thank you he dispersed.

"Will you eat something for me?" Gabriella muttered against Noah's head and he shook it firmly.

Gabriella turned him around to face her, "I know you're sleepy but just eat a little something because then you won't wake up grouchy and hungry," She said to him, brushing his salt dried hair back.

"No," He mumbled, pushing forward to lay against her chest that was now covered in a tee-shirt.

Gabriella stopped trying, letting him rest against her while reaching to gather some food on her fork to eat.

Troy touched Noah's arm gently and Noah turned his head to face him, not once did his head leave his mother, "Hey dude, I'm Troy. You're mom told me you like boats. Now how about if you eat whatever your mom wants you too then you, me, your brother and your mom can head out and row a little? Or just you, your mom and Xavier can go if you prefer," He said in a fake whisper as if it was an agreement between just the two of them.

Noah smiled a little at Noah, "Red boat?"

"Oh whoa, you like red boats? Dude, the red boat we have is our best one," Troy grinned, speaking with enthusiasm to the little boy.

Noah's head perked up a little.

"We used to live near a lake and whenever he wouldn't stop crying and if it was sunny, we used to take him out on this old red boat and just paddle and he'd settle so fast. I think he's a water bug," Gabriella told him with a small smile.

Troy smiled back softly before looking back at Noah, "What do you say, boat or no boat?" He asked.

"Boat," Noah's small voice spoke.

"With me or without?" He asked again.

A large smile took over his face, "With."

"Awesome," Troy grinned, holding out his large pal for a high five and Noah slapped his tiny hand onto Troy's and Troy faked a wince which made him laugh.

Gabriella watched them with a smile, and then Noah looked up at her and spoke, "Mommy, food," He wriggled around so he was facing his face and shuffled forward to begin eating.

Gabriella looked over at Troy, "Thank you," She whispered.

Troy shook his head lightly, reaching over to gently rub just below the base of her neck before pulling back and beginning to eat.

/

Gabriella knew she should not be watching Troy's muscled body flex and stretch as she paddled on a nice and still area of water which was blocked from waves by the sea by one large rock. She should be paying attention to her sleeping son in the boat with them or wondering if Xavier was ok with Sharpay and Chad but at that moment all Gabriella was focused on was Troy's biceps flexed and stretching and his chest and back working to create a delicious picture in front of her.

"Want a go?" Troy asked.

Gabriella crinkled her nose, "I'll pass."

Troy chuckled quietly, "So you let me bring you all the way out here and you get to sit there and watch," He joked with a playful smirk.

Gabriella bit down on her lower lip and looked away from the blue eyed, extremely bulked up and defined man in front of her.

Troy grinned at the reaction he got from this beautiful woman. He made him laugh a little because she seemed embarrassed to admit that she, a straight woman, was checking out a single guy who was openly flexing in front of her and everyone knew that she was no longer innocent as she had two children but still admitting that she found a guy remotely attraction was a no-no.

"Your kids are awesome," Troy said, "Big props to you and their dad," He praised.

Gabriella smiled softly, seemingly reaching an area of comfort for her, "Thank you. We were young when we had Xavier but I was determined to not let him turn out to be rude or ungrateful and I always have told them to admit when they were wrong and apologise and use their manners because nobody likes a bratty kid," She ranted.

"You were 19 right?" Troy asked.

"Mhm," Gabriella nodded, "Sharpay?"

"Yeah," He chuckled.

Gabriella shook her head, "19 when Xavier was born and 23 when Noah was born."

"Wow. You are supermom," Troy grinned.

Gabriella smiled softly, closed her eyes briefly, "Sometimes when I just stop and do something like this, I feel how tired I am," She admitted quietly, her head tilted back to face the sun's rays.

Troy slowed his rowing and looked at the woman in front of him, she was seriously beautiful and incredibly sexy and she didn't even have to try, "Maybe that's a sign telling you to have a break and relax every now and again," He suggested.

Gabriella opened her eyes and they quickly met his, "Maybe but I relax when they go to sleep, maybe have a bath, a glass of wine, watch some TV or read."

"Alone?" Troy asked softly.

Gabriella's right hand went to her left and gently stroked over her ring finger and looked down; remembering when two pretty rings adorned there, "For the past two and a half years yeah," She said quietly, looking down at her hand.

Troy's eyes lowered to her hand and then down at Noah who was lay flat on his back and head rolled to the side to face his mother, "Noah was young then?" He asked.

Gabriella's head snapped up as if suddenly being brought out of a trance, "Yeah, he was about eight months old," She answered, looking down at Noah, "I hate that he is going to grow up in the next few years differently to Xavier did. He had us both around, Noah won't have his dad hardly ever, he lives in New York now with his new girlfriend. They don't know that he has someone else."

Troy frowned slightly, "I mean I've only met you guys today but he seems happy, they both do. Isn't that all that matters?"

Gabriella licked her lips, nodding slowly, "Yeah, it is. I'd do anything to make them happy. I _do_ anything to make them happy."

"I see that, you're a good mom," Troy admired, "Are you happy though?" He asked.

Gabriella's eyes raised to meet his, not once since she had divorced her husband had anybody asked her if she was happy, sure people asked if she was ok but never did anyone ask if she was happy, "I don't know," She admitted with a pathetic laugh, "I mean, of course, my boys make me incredibly happy, they make me laugh and they are so kind to me and to each other and I couldn't ask for anything more. They are my pride and joy, I love them so much. They really do make me laugh every day, make me go crazy sometimes but mostly they make me happy," She giggled.

Troy tilted his head with a small smile, "But what about when you're not with them? When you're alone at night?" He questioned.

Gabriella looked away briefly, "I'm normally too exhausted to even think about if I'm happy in my person life, away from the kids."

"Ok, what about when you and your husband took time out from them and it was just you two?" Troy had completely stopped paddling now, just letting the three of them bob in the still water.

Gabriella shrugged, "We used to do so much together in high school and then Xavier was born and it was hard for a while but when he started to get older, my brother would have him or his parents would have him and we'd go out to dinner or have a night in relaxing. But after I fell pregnant with Noah, things changed, I knew he wasn't just mine anymore and that I wasn't his only woman," She said, nodding slowly as she pushed down on her lips.

"Mommy?" A little voice said from below.

Gabriella quickly sniffled and cleared her throat, "What's up baby?" She asked, running her hand along his little side.

"I like this red boat," He said sleepily with a smile but falling straight back to sleep causing a small laugh to erupt from Gabriella's mouth.

Gabriella looked up from Noah a minute later to find Troy looking at her with a sad smile. Gabriella simply shook her head.

"I'm sorry," Troy mumbled.

Gabriella shrugged, "It is what it is," She sighed.

"Why did you stay with him for more than a year after?" Troy asked, "You carried his two children and gave birth to them and he did that all of you. I don't like little boys like that," He said quite bitterly.

Gabriella smiled at his behaviour, "He didn't confirm these thoughts and gut instincts until New Year's eve, exactly five years after he asked me to marry him. He had to 'work' and I surprised him with Noah and Xavier. Noah obviously no idea what was going on and Xavier had an idea, he didn't speak to him for about 5 months."

Troy frowned, "That's disgusting."

"No, apparently what is disgusting is a woman's body after having two children. I don't look the way I once did he said. I couldn't blame him, the other woman was gorgeous and skinny and leggy," Gabriella said, shaking her head and letting out a breath, "I'm sorry, I'm not making this boat trip fun."

Troy smiled gently, "It's fine. I want to know more about you," He confessed, "But Gabriella, this may seem very male and may slap me but when me and Chad saw you after Sharpay pointed you out, we were like whoa, that woman is hot," He smirked as she giggled, shaking her head, "Seriously, no one would guess that two kids came from you and grew in you, like you're just beautiful," He husked out.

Gabriella gave him a small smile, "Thanks," She giggled shyly, leaning back against the cushioned seat, softly bringing Noah onto her chest so they could relax together in the sun.

"Plus, you're a good mom which makes you more attractive," Troy chuckled.

Gabriella laughed quietly, "Anyway, enough about my pathetic life story, what about you? Kids? Girlfriend? I'm assuming no wife," She nodded at his hand.

Troy smirked, "Already checked that, huh?" He teased.

Gabriella grinned at him but stayed silent.

"No wife, no girlfriend, no kids. Just me," Troy listed off, "Well I have family but no partner in life just yet," He joked.

Gabriella laughed softly, "What's your type? Maybe Shar can set you up,"

"Believe me she's tried many times but it's never worked out," He commented, "But I don't think I have a type but Shar, Zeke and Chad seem to think I do. Apparently I go for more… I don't know, erm darker complexion, dark hair, dark eyes, things like that."

Gabriella nodded, "Well if I see anybody like that, I'll let you know."

"Please do," He smirked, "Every time I visit my mom and dad, they are always asking me if I have a girlfriend yet and when am I going to settle down and have a family because apparently by now I should at least be in a long term relationship," He rolled his eyes, "My dad is more chilled about it and they don't directly say these things but my mom definitely hints."

"That's cute," She grinned, "How old are you?"

"27."

"Oh, only a year older than me."

Troy raised an eyebrow, "Only a year? Do I look old to you or something?" He teased.

Gabriella rolled her eyes mockingly, "Sure," She giggled.

Troy raised both brows, "You're lucky you're holding your kid or you'd be overboard right now."

Gabriella laughed a little more, trying to be careful of the sleeping boy in her arms. Troy smiled as he watched her laugh, licking his lips a little. To a few people on the beach who saw them and smiled, they did look like a little family. That unnerved Troy a little but he felt a male pride within him as he made the woman opposite him laugh.

"So tell me more, any siblings?" Gabriella prompted, running her hand over Noah's head.

Troy nodded, "One brother, he's a couple years younger, his name is Dylan. He's in his final year at college. Erm, my mom and dad, Lucille and Jack live a couple of hours away, still in California though and I think they've been together since they were 17 and had me when they were 18 and they got married when I was four and then Dylan was born."

"Wow," Gabriella murmured.

"I believe will be together for the rest of their lives, they love each other a lot, I can tell," Troy smiled.

Gabriella smiled at him, "They are definitely my goals in life," She giggled, "Two boys? Rings a bell."

Troy chuckled, "True. Me and my brother are really close and Noah and Xavier will be too."

"I hope so," She said happily.

"Shall we head back?" Troy asked, "It's getting a little rough," He said, watching the waved beyond the rock, where he would have to paddle too.

"Yeah," She agreed simply, "Troy, I'm sorry for telling you my life, I," She shook her head.

"Don't be embarrassed, like learning about people. Especially cute ones," He charmed with a chuckle as he started to move them back to shore.

Gabriella didn't reply with words, just with a simple smile as she closed her eyes and held Noah close to her.

/

Sharpay watched as Troy put away their equipment and life vests and Xavier ran away from her and Chad, down to his mom and a now more awake Noah, now he had his nap. She watched as Gabriella swung Xavier around before placing him down, nodding and getting down onto her knees. The three of them began to make sandcastles. Troy looked at them briefly before leaving the little family alone and walking up to Chad and Sharpay who were sitting at a beach bar, nursing two cold drinks.

"Hey," Sharpay greeted, "Did Noah enjoy his boat trip?"

Troy nodded, "Yeah, he fell asleep so fast and Gabriella's ex is a _dick_ ," He sat down next to Chad.

Sharpay laughed briefly at the bluntness of his statement, "Yeah, he's a jackass."

"Why?" Chad asked.

"He cheated on her," Sharpay said simply.

Chad's brows shot up, "Shut up. Why would he cheat on her? She's smoking and she seems really nice."

"She is," Troy agreed, "Some men don't appreciate what they have."

"So other men then swoop in and appreciate it for them?" Chad asked Troy with a smirk.

Troy chuckle, shaking his head, "Dude, shut up. She said some things that I, like, had an urge to make better. I don't know how to describe it and I don't want to tell you guys the ins and outs of what we talked about but I don't know whether to act on it or not?"

Sharpay frowned as did Chad, "What?"

Troy let out a sigh, "We were talking about her being happy and she kind of implied that she is but sometimes she feels lonely. Which is understandable if you were with someone for as long as she was with that dude but I don't want her to be sad or lonely," His brows crunched together momentarily.

"That is such a booty call," Chad chuckled, "I'm lonely come over," He joked.

Troy and Sharpay rolled their eyes, "But she mentioned something and I just thought I could join her," He told them fleetingly.

"Do what you think is right Troy," Sharpay shrugged honestly, "Just remember you will never be number one in her eyes, that place is for Xavier and Noah only."

"I know," Troy nodded, "I probably respect her more for that."

/

"Noah, are you going to say thank you to Troy for your boat ride?" Gabriella asked with a tilt of her head, as she held him on her waist and Xavier had his eyes closed resting against her leg and Gabriella's spare hand ran through his hair.

Noah nodded.

"Go on then," Gabriella giggled.

Noah hid his face in her neck which earned him a couple of kisses on his temple. He looked up again, "Fank you, Toy," He said tiredly before dig his face back in her neck.

Gabriella laughed, "Good boy," She grinned then looked at Troy, "Thank you," She said quietly.

"No problem," Troy smiled back before crouching down to Xavier's height, "Thanks for letting me take your mom and Noah out on that boat, dude," He said, holding out his fist to Xavier.

Xavier's eyes opened and he gave Troy the same tired smile that Noah did, "It's ok, they said they had fun."

Troy smiled at Xavier and looked up to wink at Gabriella, "I'm glad," He mumbled before standing up so Chad could say goodbye.

"Come on then guys, let's go home," Gabriella said, guide Xavier around, turned her head back to face the two men, "It was nice to meet you both, bye," She smiled and then continued to walk up the quiet beach toward Sharpay's car which would be giving them a lift back home.

/

Once Gabriella seated her two sons in the car, ensuring they were fastened in properly, she quickly announced to Sharpay that she would be right back. She took off in a jog back down the beach barefoot towards the small hut where Troy was standing shirtless, counting money.

"Yo dude, we made so much today," She heard Troy shout back to Chad who was empting the hut to move all their water sports gear down the beach to the secure shed which they kept their things in overnight.

"Yeah and we would have earned more if you didn't let Gabriella go for free," She heard Chad joke.

Troy laughed, his chest inflating momentarily, "I wasn't going to make her pay, I was the one who suggested it."

"Yeah, yeah, you old romantic," Chad teased.

Gabriella came to a stop once she rounded the large vehicle with a huge trailer on the back, "Hey," She breathed, tucking her long hair behind her ears.

Troy's head shot up and his brows rose slowly also, "Hi," He smiled, "Did you forget something?" He asked.

Gabriella's eyes dropped to his body but only for a second before she reconnected their eyes, "So," She breathed out, "Would you like to join me later… for some wine and TV, maybe?" She boldly suggested, biting down on her plump lower lip as she waited for his answer.

"Is there a bath included?" He said quietly with a smirk on his face.

Gabriella laughed, shaking her head, "Not yet," She ducked her head, realising he hadn't yet agreed or disagreed, "If you have other plans or just don't, that's fine."

Troy's eyebrows rose higher as her bold remark, "I'd love too. What time shall I come over?"

Gabriella asked for the time now, 6pm, "8?"

"Sounds perfect," He smiled.

"Ok," She said simply, smiling back at him with closed lips. She nervously moving about, nodding once before telling him her address and then taking off back up the beach to get into the car waiting for her.

Chad's head poked out of the hut and looked at Troy with wide eyes and consequently raised brows, "What was that?" He asked.

Troy went back to count the money, starting again after he had been interrupted, not that it wasn't a pleasant interruption, "I'm going over to Gabriella's tonight."

Chad simply let out a hum, a small smirk before heading back into the hut, not pressing the matter further but tomorrow at the beach he definitely will be pressing for details.

/

In the space of two hours, Gabriella had bathed Noah while Xavier got himself into the shower. This was a time where she appreciated having a separate bath and shower so she could get two tired boys into bed quicker. She let Noah relax in the bath while she checked Xavier had washed his hair properly and all sand and sea water was free from his body. She had shut off the water and had a soft towel waiting for him when he got out. She lifted Noah out of the bath once Xavier had the towel wrapped around him and put a small one around Noah.

"Aw, my two cute boys," Gabriella cooed, kissing them both of the head. She rubbed their arms over the towel to dry them. Xavier began to dry himself and she helped Noah dry off.

"Pyjamas and then bed time," Gabriella said which earned a smile from both of them.

Once dry and changed into soft pyjamas, they both walked into their separate bedrooms and as soon as they were tucked in, they were fast asleep, no need for a bed time story tonight. Gabriella kissed them both and murmured the same thing, "Sleep well, I love you."

She then took her own shower, revelling in the hot water running over her body and instead of changing into her pyjamas like she normally would. She pulled on some fresh underwear, a pair of pyjama looking shorts, a simple tee shirt and a large grey hoodie. Her chilly feet had a pair of little socks on before she set to blow dry her curly hair. Running some oil through the ends, she made work of her night time skin care regime then padded down the stairs, poking her head into each boy's room to check on them on the way. Once down stairs she passed through the living room to switch on the TV and then into the kitchen to grab two wine glasses and place them on the side, just in time for a knock on the door. She smiled at the fact that he didn't use the doorbell as her two boys were sound asleep.

Gabriella padded into the hall and open the door, "Hi," She smiled.

"Hey," Troy smiled back, "I brought us some wine. I got rose? I wasn't sure whether to get red or white so I got the middle," He chuckled as she opened the door wider so he could walk into her house.

"Wise choice," Gabriella commented, shutting the door and locking it.

Once Troy had slipped off his converse shoes, they walked through the kitchen to pick up the glasses before walking into the living room. He promptly poured a good amount of wine into each glass then taking a seat on the large couch, close enough to Gabriella to feel that they didn't have lots of room between them but not too close where it would feel awkward.

"Thank you," She spoke, lifting up the glass to clink their glasses together.

Troy had taken a quick shower, pulled on some comfier shorts, a grey tee shirt and a black zip up, "Are your two fast asleep?" He asked.

"Mhm, they were practically falling asleep when they were showering," She giggled, "I'm pretty wiped too, I think it's a mix of the heat and the food."

Troy nodded, "Definitely, I get so tired working outside sometimes but it feels good," He said.

Gabriella lay her head back against the couch and turned her face to face the crazily gorgeous and extremely male man next to her, "Working outside looks good on you."

Troy looked over at her with a grin on his face, "How many glasses of wine have you had before I came?" He teased.

Gabriella laughed quietly next to him, "None actually."

/

Hours had passed and many glasses of wine had been consumed between the two. It was around midnight and they had put on a movie but did not really watch it as they continued to talk and learn more about the other.

"You don't live far away from me, you know," Troy commented from his position of laying back against the arm of the couch, legs out in front of him.

"No? How far?" Gabriella questioned as she returned to the room after making a trip to the bathroom.

"About a ten maybe fifteen minute drive," He said, opening his arms toward her.

Gabriella raised an eyebrow and he just waved his arms around a little, beckoning her into them, "Do you live more on the coast or in land?" She queried as she sat next on the edge of the couch next to his waist.

Troy moved so he lay on his side, his strong arms wrapping around Gabriella's small waist, "On the coast. My house is kinda on a hill and my living room looks out on to the ocean," He murmured next to her, "And then I have a little balcony from bedroom above and then a big open outside space from the living room where you can see everything. It's my dream home."

Gabriella sent him a closed lipped smile, looking down and behind herself a little, "That sounds so nice."

Troy nodded, "I like it a lot, you should come see it some time," He smiled, leaning up and into her side a little as he tugged her down making her laugh.

"I'd love too," She said through a laugh.

Troy lifted one knee up and she slipped into the v his body created, his arms still around her, "Good," He smiled.

Gabriella continued her giggle, lazily blinking up at him, "I should go to bed," She said suddenly.

Troy looked down at her lips before raising to meet her eyes, licking his own lips subtly, "Yeah, I should get going," He pulled out his cell phone to shoot a quick text message.

"You can't drive," She exclaimed, sitting up quickly.

Troy smiled at her reaction, putting his cell phone away, "I've just text Chad, he said he's pick me up," He said, lifting his hand up to rake through her hair.

Gabriella turned her face away from him, his hand dropping from her hair as a consequence. Troy frowned at this, all night especially the last hour, she was revelling in his attention toward her. She had lay against his side and rested her head on his chest as he held her and stroked the small of her back under her clothing. Her feet softly stroked his calves and tangled their legs together; her fingers had outlined the neck of his tee shirt and had, even just for a mere ten seconds, reached up the hem of the shirt to softly graze his abdominal muscles which she had been appreciating with her eyes subtly, or so she thought, all day.

"Oh," She muttered.

"Is everything ok?" He asked, sitting up so he was sat beside her on the edge of the couch.

Gabriella breathed, "Yeah, I just… I think that's enough," She mumbled, looking down at the floor.

"What?" Troy asked, "I don't understand."

Gabriella adjusted her posture, "I think tonight needs to end now, we've both had a lot of wine and talked about sensitive things, I just can't," She shook her head, standing up to get some physical distance.

Troy frowned, "You can't what?" He questioned.

Gabriella swallowed, her small hands raising to her eyes, "I can't do this," She whispered, "I can't let it be just me and you again. I can't."

Troy stood up and walked closer to her, peeling her hands away from her eyes, "Why not?" He asked, softly running the pads of his thumbs along her wrists.

Gabriella tilted her head back, "Because… because I can't be with someone for eight years and for them to crush again. I won't let that happen to me or my kids," She said erratically, moving her hands from Troy's grasp.

Troy followed her and spun her around by her waist, "Gabriella, I'm not a bad guy. I'm not him. I'm not going to intentionally hurt you."

"But I just can't," She blurted out.

"Why are you thinking about this anyway? We met about thirteen hours ago, why are you jumping to eight years from now?" He questioned, his blue eyes dancing from each of her brown ones.

"Because I should have done this when I was sixteen, I should have stopped it all," She said, her eyes filling with tears, "I wouldn't be here struggling, I wouldn't be struggling to give my children what they deserve, I can't even ensure that they'll see their father again. What kind of mother am I if I can't keep my family together, if I can't make sure their dad is in the picture? If I just stopped it all before it began. I don't regret my children one bit but I wish I could give them more," She breathed and slowed down, "I'm 26 and divorced, I've been bringing up my two children for the past two years on my own, how pathetic and weak is that. I can't even force my ex-husband to see his children who so desperately want to see him," She looked up at him with dishevelled hair, her brown eyes sparkling with tears and looking so small.

Troy shook his head, "I don't know who you've described just now. The woman I've met today isn't weak, she isn't pathetic, she's strong. You're not struggling, you're coping just like the majority of the country. You're alive but you're not living, that's the only thing I'm sad about and I want to change. You are incredible and you need to believe it. But I'll ask you again, why are you thinking about us in eight years time? Why does it scare you or make you upset?" He said firmly.

Gabriella let out an annoyed and painful groan, before shaking his hands off her body, "Because you hold me and touch and talk to me like I wished he had done. Because how you have been tonight, how you have acted towards me, I wish with all my heart that that's how he could have been. How bad is it that my ex-husband of five years didn't make me feel the way you made me feel tonight, today even. Today you were just so perfect when you talking to Noah about the boat," She looked away from him, "I loved Jake what does that say about you and me?" She said rhetorically, walking away toward the kitchen as Troy stood quietly.

There was a knock on the door and Gabriella brushed away her the tears that he slipped down her face, letting out a short breath before pushing off the counter and walking to the door. She opened it and saw Chad who looked up and smile and then frowned concerned.

"Hey," Gabriella said in a fake cheerful voice, "Troy's in the living room, you can come in," She said with a false smile, pushing the door open wider before walking away, climbing the stairs of her home.

Chad watched her walk away as he shut the front door and then heard a door upstairs close which he presumed was her bedroom, "Troy?" He called quietly. He hesitantly walked further into the house and finally finding his best friend on the couch with his head in his hands, "Hey man, I wasn't expecting to actually be picking you up," He joked.

Troy looked up at his friend, "Gabriella just told me that her ex has never made her feel the way I have today. What do I do with that? What did I do?" He asked in one tone, only the last two questioned were asked in a high pitch.

Chad's eyebrows shot up for a moment before shrugging his shoulders, "You were Troy. I believe everybody one person they are meant to be with. What if Gabriella is that for you?"

"But she has two kids."

"Does that bother you?"

Troy sighed, "No," He answered, truthfully. He's head hung low as he played with his fingers, "What do I do?" He asked, looking up.

"How do you feel about her?"

"I've known her a few hours man, I don't even know her properly," Troy exclaimed quietly.

Chad shook his head, "That's not my question."

Troy stayed quiet for a minute before answering, "I want to make her happy. We had a good time tonight, it was fun. I just want to be there for her and look after her," He sighed, "When I went to work this morning, I never thought this would be how my night would end."

Chad snorted with a laugh, "You know what they say, love comes to those who don't look for it."

"Dude, do not talk about love," Troy rolled his eyes.

"Gabriella loved her husband, right?" Troy nodded, "And tonight she told you that he never made her feel the way that she does about you, right?"

"Kind of," Troy answered.

"I think it's hard to distinguish between loving someone and being in love with them. Maybe Gabriella just loved him, but with you it's different," Chad shrugged.

Troy let out a breath, "You think she's in love with me? You are crazy," He chuckled, shaking his head.

"I'm not saying that but I think if you two continued to see each other after tonight and from what little you've told me, then yeah, maybe one day she could be in love with you," Chad said, seeing Troy's far off expression, "Just some food for thought."

Troy stood up and made his way up the stairs in attempt to find Gabriella's room while leaving Chad on his own down stairs. He saw two rooms with the doors cracked open with two boy's name on, on the right hand side and Gabriella's was the last door on the left. He knocked softly on the door before pushing it open to see Gabriella sat at her window seat, looking out at her backyard which the huge wall window offered.

"Hey," Troy whispered, shutting the door behind him and started to walk over.

"Hi," Gabriella muttered, picking at a blanket which she lay over her bare legs.

Troy knelt down next to her, reaching his arm over to rest across her thighs, "Look, you know more about relationships and how complex they can be more than I ever will. So maybe I don't understand what I think and feel right now but what I am sure about is that I don't want to stop seeing you after tonight, I don't want us to always be around other people, I want it to just be me and you sometimes, after Xavier and Noah have gone to bed for a few hours in your living room or an actual date. I don't want to stop seeing you. I don't want you to be scared, I want you to be happy and I want to be the person to make you happy and force you to realise her amazing you are," He gave her a half smile, "So please don't let what happened in your last relationship affect your future or your decisions today. You deserve happiness after all this time. Don't be scared of me or how I make you feel either," He blushed lightly, "For all you know, you might just be reacting to a bit of physical contact and a bit of sweet talking your son," He winked and turned serious again, "And don't compare it to him or your relationship, I'm not him and we will never be the same as you two were. Just enjoy it and relax, no pressure," Troy said, gently moving his fingertips against the blanket covering her thigh, "You with me?" He asked.

Gabriella let a smile take over her face and she nodded, "Yeah."

"Sweet," He grinned childishly, "Are you ready to start relaxing and being happy and enjoying life?"

She nodded soundlessly.

"Good," His smile never leaving his face, "Ok, I really have to go, I have to be up at half 8 to walk my dog before walk."

Gabriella straightened, "You having a dog?" She asked with a wide smile.

Troy chuckled at her child like response, "Yeah, a golden retriever, she's six, her name is milo. I wanted to call her Java but because I got her when she was a puppy from a dog rescue place, someone had already named her and she reacted to it so I thought it would be cruel to take that away."

Gabriella crinkled her nose affectionately, "That's really sweet," She cooed.

Troy shook his head, "Now I really, really need to go."

"Ok, I'll come down with you," Gabriella stood up and wrapped the blanket around her.

"Cute room by the way," He smirked at the pink flowery childish wallpaper.

"Shut up, I haven't finish the boy's rooms yet and then I'll move onto mine," Gabriella explained.

"Do I have an input if you're thinking about eight years?" He teased as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Again, shhh," Gabriella hushed, slapping his shoulder.

Troy laughed and opened the front door after seeing Chad wasn't around and then he saw him in his car waiting. He turned to her once he stepped out of her house, "I've had an amazing time today," He admitted, wanting to smirk at the height difference even if when she was standing on high ground than him.

"Me too," She smiled.

"Hug?" He opened his arms and Gabriella wrapped her arms around him while still holding the blanket. He kissed her cheek when they were pulling back, his gaze went to her lips.

"I don't kiss guys the day I meet them," She teased.

Troy glanced at his watch, "You're lucky that it's Sunday now then."

Gabriella laughed quietly, "Still no, now go," She demanded.

Troy saluted her before giving her a wink, "See you soon," He said as he turned and walked down the path.

Gabriella grinned as she watched him get into the car and waved, "Bye," She mouthed.

He smiled and sent her a simple nod as Chad started to pull away.

Gabriella kept the genuine smile on her face as she turned around, closed the door behind her and locked it securely before moving freely up the stairs to climb into her comfortable bed and shut her eyes, for once something other than her life-long friends or her children making her fall asleep with a smile on her face.

* * *

Thank you for reading, I'd love to know your thoughts. Please review.


	2. Chapter 2

Hi, here is another chapter. I really hope you enjoy it. Thank you so much for the reviews on the last one and I really do appreciate people's honesty and constructive criticim (you know who you are, haha); it was so nice to read the bits you liked and bits you thought could be improved. Enjoy! Thanks for reading.

* * *

 _Gabriella hadn't felt this relaxed in such a long time. It was as if as soon as her tense body touched the solid length of Troy's, all of the tension and stress that she held within, floated away. Her body was suddenly hit with a weariness that she didn't know he body possessed. Yes, she often felt tired but not to the point where as soon as her body straightened out against a man's, she would be willing herself not to fall asleep and drool on him within a second._

" _You look very peaceful right now," Troy whispered, looking down at Gabriella's closed eyes._

 _Gabriella kept her eyes closed, feeling that it was too much effort to open them and look up, "I feel very relaxed," She commented._

 _Troy smiled and hesitantly lifted the back of her large hooded sweatshirt just so the small of her back was revealed and his slightly rough fingertips (from hauling huge amounts of water sports equipment back and forth everyday) started to massage._

" _Hmm," She hummed, stretching a little._

 _Troy continued his massage, alternating between massaging her muscles to stroking her soft skin, "Is that good?" He asked with a slight husk to his voice, keeping her hoodie up with the base of his hand; the soft material grazing his wrist._

" _So good," She practically moaned. In any other circumstance; if it wasn't almost midnight or her body wasn't so tired from the day of fun on the beach, she would then have probably blushed and apologised or even refrained herself from making the noise but right now, she was too busy relaxing against his chest, his steady heartbeat was a soothing rhythm to her and enjoying his gentle massage._

/

As she lay in bed in the early hours of Monday morning waiting for the minute hand to tick over telling her she had to get out of bed to get Xavier and Noah ready for school and pre-school. Both Sunday and Monday morning she had awoken before her alarm and thought about the mini massage Troy had given her on Saturday night.

"Geez Gabriella, get it together," She breathed, finding it ridiculous that she had been thinking about this specific few minutes out of all the hours they had spent together.

The alarm tone from beside her queen sized bed sounded and she huffed, flinging a hand to shut it up while thinking that she just needed to get a professional massage and that would solve her morning day dreams; no need for a man who had consumed her thoughts a lot yesterday to do it… of course not.

Gabriella stretched and rubbed her sleepy face gently before pulling off her comforter, laying there for a little longer and then stood up. She was so glad that there was only two weeks left of school however, this would be the first summer that she had ever been on her own, no family (when she lived with her brother after the divorce) or husband around to help entertain the kids for the entire summer. It was also the first summer that Xavier really wanted to go to a summer camp but because that idea of his was brought up only a mere week ago, she painfully didn't have time to save and pay for him to go so therefore, he was promised that he could go next summer if he still wanted.

Gabriella was thankful of her late night shower so all she needed to do was change. She was heading to work after dropping off her two boys so she dressed smart as it was for a meeting. She decided on a pair of black structured yet fitting pants which had a slight hint of thin grey stripes down and a white long sleeve blouse with a Victorian neck and a black thin piece of material wrapped around her neck, accentuating the Victorian neck of her blouse, she made sure to wear a white lace bra underneath and no other clue to ensure that nobody could see her underwear. Her pants also needed a thong beneath as the line of any other underwear would show and for once she was actually heading to a meeting feeling sexy and today she was going to own the presentation she had to give. Back in high school, the idea of completing a presentation in front a group of people debating whether her work was good enough for them would have scared her so much that she would stutter and shake; now, it was a part of her life and to do what she loved, she had to do this nerve-wrecking part of the job.

Before stepping out of her bedroom, she washed her face, brushed her teeth, completed her make-up and pulled her curly hair into simple low messy bun with a couple of pieces of hair framing her face, she made sure to push up at her hair to ensure it didn't look flat. After adding some perfume, she placed her heels that she would change into, next to her door.

Gabriella walked into Xavier's room to see him sleeping on his back with his head tilted to the side, the same way both his dad and Noah slept. She gently pushing his hair back, "Xav, it's time to get up," She called, walking over to the window and opening the curtains, resulting in a groan from the seven year olds body, "I'll back be in five minutes and I want you to be up and having a wash," She said, walking out and going to wake up her other son.

Soon- Later, the three of them were buckled safely in their seats and on the way to drop of Xavier.

"I'll pick you up at 2:30, ok?" Gabriella asked, looking across at Xavier.

"Ok," He yawned.

Gabriella laughed, shaking her head.

Ten minutes later of fairly busy traffic, Gabriella was dropping off Xavier and with a hasty goodbye, he was out of the car and jogging towards his friends with his backpack bouncing on his back from side to side. Gabriella smiled before pulling away again, happy to see Xavier had quickly made friends. She had only dropped him off at school on his first day then once a week after when she would have to go into the office at her workplace. Gabriella fifteen minutes later, stepped out of the car, picking up an excited Noah and walking toward the building which was similar to a day care. Making sure that he was settled and the staff knew what time she was picking him up, she walked back out to her car and then set off to work.

Two hours later, the 45 minute presentation and meeting had come to a finished, with Gabriella getting another deal, she had noted down what they wanted and she had decided to stay in the office a while longer to begin on her work. Realising that she had checked her cell phone since first thing this morning, she dug through her black bag and pulled out her phone. Both of her defined eyebrows, due to some product in them, rose as she opened the text message to read it in full.

'Hey, its Troy, I asked Shar for your number I hope that's ok. I have an hour and a half lunch today and wondered if you wanted to eat together? Totally cool if you don't. Hope you're having a good morning xxx'

Gabriella smiled as she re-read the message, seeing that she had received it an hour ago, she typed out a quick reply, confirming that she would like to meet him if the offer was still open. Another text, stating where and a time was received with Gabriella replying that was good.

She happily continued with her drawings, glad she had brought along her pencils. Her sketches were rough, just an outline of what she wanted to produce as a final product. Time had flown while she drew out the a few of the outlines and by the time she had looked up at the clock, she let out a quiet gasp, collecting her things but dashing out with a quick goodbye.

Five minutes before they were too meet, Gabriella came walking into the café still in her work wear as she hadn't had time to change, not that she minded, she liked this outfit and she went from beginning in one building with intense AC to another building which was a slightly more comfortable air; not too cold.

"Hey," Gabriella breathed, taking a seat opposite Troy in a typical American diner booth, "I was worried I wouldn't make it here on time."

Troy's head looked up from the menu and his lips parted slightly as his eyes meeting hers, "Hey, been somewhere nice?" He asked, crossing his arms on the table.

Gabriella shook her head, "Just a meeting at work, it was kinda important so I needed to make a good impression."

Troy swallowed, forcing his eyes not to scan her body in male approval of her outfit choice, "Well you look beautiful and you're happy? So it went well?" He questioned.

Gabriella smiled, ducking her head and played with the ends of her sleeves, "Thanks," She said, "Yeah, I got the deal," She said with a much more happy tone to her voice.

"Deal?" Troy questioned.

Gabriella nodded, "Yeah I do drawings, erm, sketches and illustrations, it's quite a general company. So I had to present what I thought would be good and they wanted that so I got the deal."

"Oh wow, that's awesome," He grinned, "Congrats," He reached over, taking one of her hands, "But seriously, warn me next time you're going to show up looking like that because I look some homeless guy you're taking pity on by treating me to a some food," He joked.

Gabriella laughed, her head going back slightly, "No you do not, you look…" She trailed off, biting down softly on her bottom lip, "Sweaty," She smirked.

Troy narrowed his eyes playfully, "And here I thought you were going to give me a compliment after I called you beautiful, my ego is not doing too well right now," He shook his head, feigning disappointment.

Gabriella giggled, squeezing his hand, "I'm sorry. Is it busy today?" She asked.

Troy lifted one shoulder, "An hour and a half lunch, so not really. Most kids are still at school so it'll pick up more once they're out but there is quite a few tourists at this time of the year."

"It's a beautiful place," She nodded.

"Attracts beautiful women," Troy smirked, knew he was being overly complimentary.

Gabriella smirked back at him, "Seen someone you like today? Is that why you asked me for lunch to break the news?"

Troy chuckled, "Nope, Shar told me and Chad we were being sleazy checking you out on Saturday so I haven't been looking."

Gabriella shrugged, "It's not sleazy. It's sometimes nice to know that someone wants to look at you that way and likes it especially after having two kids stretching you," She laughed.

Troy grinned, "Good. Where are they?" He asked.

"Xavier is at school, he'll finish for summer in two weeks and Noah is at day care, I need to make money so he has to go but he really enjoys it," Gabriella informed, "I normally pick them up at the same time and try to pile as much work as I can into those few hours I get but someone just had to interrupt me today," She feigned annoyance but had a small smile plastered on her lips at all times.

Troy smiled softly at her teasing, "By all means, go back to work if you really want," He said, gesturing to the door.

Gabriella shrugged, "I'm good," She looked down at the menu.

Troy chuckled, taking his hand back rubbing a hand over his tired face and letting out a yawn.

"Tired?" She said as more of a statement, not lifting her eyes from the menu.

Troy glanced at her, "Mhm, I can't remember when I last had a day off."

"Tell me about it," Gabriella murmured.

"Sorry, that was really insensitive," Troy said quickly, realising that the woman in front of him must be twice as tired as him.

Gabriella shook her head quickly, "No it wasn't, everyone is allowed to be tired," She giggled, looking up from the menu.

Troy studied her for a moment, "When's your next day off?" He asked, resting his elbows on the table and straightening out his forearms to take both of her manicured hands.

Gabriella smirked, "I don't have days off. I work when the boys are at school and then I'm with them 24/7 in the evenings and at the weekend."

"Right, being a mom is a full time thing, huh. I was just thinking, maybe… we could go for a day out somewhere, I could show you some places of California, you said you'd only been here for a couple of days years ago right?" He questioned which Gabriella nodded at. Realising Gabriella wasn't going to say anything he continued, "Do you have anyone to take care of Xaiver and Noah for the day?" He asked, hopeful.

Gabriella pressed her lips together, knowing that at some point she would have to address this, "Here, I have Shar, Taylor who I haven't spoken to in years so I guess she doesn't count and I have my brother back in New Mexico but that's it, that's everyone."

Troy let a small frown crease his forehead. He subtly stood from his side of the booth to sit down next to her. He stayed quiet, not knowing what to say. He simply let his arm wrap around her shoulder blades and onto her bicep, his cheek coming down to rest on the top of her head.

"They died when I was 18 and my brother was 21. Luckily, he didn't have to drop out of college because of the money they left behind. I had just gotten my acceptance letter to Stanford but I got a little reckless, I didn't really care about school anymore so I got my scholarship withdrawn and kind of let Jake do what he wanted… sexually; he stopped wearing condoms," She whispered, "I didn't go to college, I fell pregnant and got married."

Troy looked down at her as she told him a brief overview of her teenage life, "I'm sorry," He said, rubbing her arm.

Gabriella sat up straighter, licking her lips, "Its fine. That's life. You live and you learn, you know."

Troy nodded slowly, "Is Jake a good dad?"

Gabriella shrugged, "What even is a good dad? Before my parents died, I hardly saw they, they were always away on business trips. They made money and made our lifestyle comfortable, very comfortable but we never saw them? I don't even know what it means to be a good mom or a good dad."

Troy didn't push any physical contact as he sat watching her, "You're a good mom. You work when they're at school so you can be with them in the evening and at weekends. You take them places and you have a blast with them. You make sure there's food on the table. I promise you, you are one of the best mom's I know."

Gabriella gave her a small smile, "Jake was good until I got pregnant again. He used to take Xavier places and play in the pool and dote on him. It was like he could handle one kid, but two no, he didn't like that. He still loved Noah, anybody could see that but it was like he blamed me for giving him more than he wanted. So he pushed me away and fell into someone else's bed. I loved him, of course I did, I was with him for eight years but that didn't mean that I didn't struggle too, he just didn't take that into account. One of Jake's friends, knew about him cheating on me and he could tell I knew; I don't know how. He tried to comfort me more than once, he tried to kiss me and would occasionally grab my ass but did I climb into his bed when things got hard? No, because I loved Jake and I loved our family and I wanted to keep us together so bad. So many people told me I couldn't make this work from the second I told people I was first pregnant. I was proud when we were married for a couple of years and seemed to be doing well, it was like laughing everybody's face. But when word got out about why I left him, it was as if everybody wanted to make sure we were ok but they so desperately wanted to smirk and say I told you so," She said bitterly, "My kids are going to grow up without their dad, why would he fly all the way over here when he has a little, skinny, big breasted twenty year old to occupy his time. He hasn't spoken to them since we left. So basically they are going to grow up in a way I was so determined they wouldn't, in a way I did; without their dad."

Troy let out a cold huff of air, "That is exactly what makes you a good mom; you would never dream of putting anyone else as your first priority and screw the past, it sucked for you so the future is going to be so good, I'll make sure of it."

Gabriella smiled softly at him, "You remind me of my brother."

Troy screwed up his face a little, "Hmmm, don't know whether to be a little concerned or not."

Gabriella giggled, "No, get your head out of the gutter. He tells me to stop thinking about the past and what I wish happened in my fairy-tale story; life isn't a fairy-tale and to concentrate on being as happy as I can and making sure Xavier and Noah are happy and have everything they need."

"He sounds like a wise guy," Troy winked.

Gabriella let out another laugh, "He's pretty cool, we stayed with him and his girlfriend for so long. He's coming to visit soon which I was so excited about."

Troy grinned, "See, this is looking forward to the future and being happy and excited, it's that easy."

Gabriella nodded with a big smile on her face, "I know," She let out a relaxed breath, "I'm excited for Shar's and Zeke's wedding too, that'll come round quick."

Troy nodded, "Yeah, it's July first, right?"

"Yep. They are staying here for Independence day and then going on their honeymoon."

"I can't believe they're getting married in four and a half weeks. It's crazy," Troy said and looked up as a waiter stopped at the end of their table and they make they orders quickly before he walked away again, "So do you think Shar will look after Xavier and Noah one day?"

Gabriella bit down on her plump lip, "I dunno, she's busy with work and planning this whole wedding."

Troy hummed before pulling out his cell phone and began to tap away before holding it up to his ear, "Hey Shar," He greeted.

"Hey," Sharpay answered, "Everything ok? You never call me."

Troy coughed lightly, "So, I really want to take Gabriella out for the day sometime soon but you know she has work and then has to pick up the kids and then be with them."

"Right," She drew out, "Do you want me to pick them up and have them for the evening or something?" She asked, casually.

Troy grinned, "Would you mind?"

"Absolutely not, it's about time she got treated like a princess. But you have to give me the low down on what you are planning before I confirm and agree it is a suitable date and then I'll look after the two cuties for the day and possibly the night, ay Bolton?" Sharpay teased.

Troy laughed, "Shut up, I'm not that much of a sleaze. I'll probably be a round in the next few days to play some ball with Zeke so I'll have a think and run it by you, how's that?" He asked.

"Perfect," She chirped.

"Alright, Gabriella says hi by the way."

"Wait, what? You're with her now?" Sharpay squealed.

Troy chuckled, "Yeah, why?"

"Put her on, put her on," Sharpay repeated, still in her high pitched voice.

"Alright, alright," Troy mocked and before she could tell him off, he handed the cell phone over, "It's Shar," He said, even though he didn't need to clarify, "She's a little squealy," He warned with a smirk.

Gabriella pouted, "Hey," She greeted her best friend.

"Gabriella Montez, you finally have turned your taste in men around and are picking good guys," She squealed happily.

Gabriella looked at Troy and laughed as he overheard and gave her a 'what can ya say' face, "Thanks Shar but seriously I'm only hanging out with him because he practically begged and he needed some food," She squealed as Troy squeezed her thigh firmly. She looked over at him and winked, letting him know she was referring to him being a guy she felt sorry for.

"Montez, I believe moving to California is going to be one of the best things you've done," Sharpay said in a whimsical voice.

Gabriella rolled her eyes at her dramatic friend, "Ok, I'm gonna go, bye Shar, love you," She said as their food was placed in front of them.

"Love you, have fun, bye," Sharpay said, hanging up the phone.

Gabriella handed back Troy the device, "So you have to impress my supervisor and then we'll see if you're are allowed to take me anywhere or have to tweak it to impress her," She teased.

Troy let out a loud laugh, "I have a pretty good idea of some of the things we could do, I think you'll like it."

"I hope Shar does too," Gabriella said with a smile.

/

"Are you ready for the wedding, dude?" Troy asked as he bounced a basketball on Zeke's lit up half court.

Zeke nodded, catching the ball before shooting toward the basket, "I think so, Shar was on a rampage the day after I proposed, trying to get everything sorted. I think she's going for another dress fitting in a couple of weeks and the bridesmaid's as well and then we go for ours and then it's done. We have the rings, food sorted, everything."

Troy jogged over to collect the ball the best he could while dressed in an outfit ready to go out with his best friends. He shot and smirked when the ball flew in, "That's good, I doubt Shar would have left anything to last minute anyway," He chuckled.

Zeke nodded and laughed in agreement, "I just need to write my vows."

"Oh, are you making your own?" Troy said with raised eyebrows.

Zeke made a face of disapproval, "Yeah. I don't like the idea voicing what I feel about her to everyone, I wanted to keep it between us but my darling fiancée," He shook his head with a smirk, "Wants to express our love for everyone to hear. Her words not mine."

Troy laughed, passing the ball, "You gotta do what you gotta do to keep her happening on her dream day."

"I know, I wouldn't do it but she looked crushed when I said no so," He shrugged.

"Are you nervous?" Troy asked.

Zeke bounced the ball from hand to hand, staying quiet for a moment, "Yeah a little, but I'm so glad we compromised on having a small wedding and a bigger reception. I would be shitting myself if the amount of people were coming to the reception, came to the wedding."

Troy let out a laugh, "Dude, you'll be fine. Just think about all the newlywed stuff you can get up to on your honeymoon," He wiggled his eyebrows.

Zeke rolled his eyes, "You can so tell that you don't get a regular amount of sex," He joked.

Troy narrowed his eyes slightly as a joke, "Fuck you, man," He laughed.

"So speaking of women, how's Gabriella?" Zeke smirked, passing the ball back to him as if to put the conversation him.

Troy shot the ball, once again it went perfectly in, "She's good," He said simply.

Zeke raised a single eyebrow, "I mean how are you _and_ Gabriella?" He asked.

"I didn't even know there was a 'me and Gabriella'" Troy commented, watching Zeke run to get the ball, making a running shot, only for the ball to bounce off the rim, "Poor, man," He smirked, collecting the ball and quickly making the shot.

"Of course there is, you're planning a whole day date and you've met her for lunch and you've been round her house last Saturday," Zeke listed off.

"And Monday and Thursday," Troy mumbled.

Zeke heard his whisper and his eyes went wide, "What happened Monday and Thursday?" He asked, yesterday being a Friday.

Troy licked his lips, "The same as Saturday. I went round once Xavier and Noah were in bed and we hung out."

Zeke grinned at one of his best friends, "Dude, how did you go from being single to spending your evenings with a mom of two."

Troy chuckled, "I have no idea, she's awesome though. Anyway, where's Chad and Shar?" He questioned, "I need to run that 'day date' idea by her and we need to go out and party a little."

Zeke laughed at him as he started to dance just as Sharpay came from around the side of this, obviously just having gotten out of her car as she still had her bag in her arms, "Hey baby," Zeke grinned as Sharpay walked down to them, he leant down to give her a quick peck as Chad walked down towards them as well.

"Hey, sorry I'm a little late, I offered Chad a ride and he took forever," Sharpay rolled her eyes, wrapping her arms around Zeke's waist.

Zeke smirked looking over at a grumpy Chad, obviously he had been told off by the blonde drama queen, "It's alright. We were just talking about the wedding and how many times Troy has seen Gabriella this week."

"Oh yeah, she made you dinner on Thursday night didn't she?" Sharpay asked, "She called me up asking for some good recipes and ideas from the restaurant," She said, referring to the restaurant she and Zeke owned.

Troy's face had a soft smile plastered on it, "She's a cutie. I didn't know that but it was bomb," He grinned.

"And you went her house on Monday night right?" Zeke smirked at Troy as he glared at him.

Troy huffed, "I hope you fall at the altar, man," He said in a deadpan voice, making everyone even Sharpay laugh.

"Didn't you go for lunch with her on Monday?" Chad asked.

"Yeah, she invited me then to go later on," Troy informed, "Anyway, Shar I need to talk to you about that date before we go."

"Ah yes, the dreaded boys night where you all get so plastered, you're bed bound the next day. I love them," Sharpay said sarcastically, maybe a little over dramatic also, "But I have my girls' night in. Which by the way, they should arrive in like five minutes," She said, looking at her wrist where her watch sat, "So quick, spill," Sharpay demanded, crossing her arms under her chest.

Troy let out an embarrassed cough, "Can we go away from these guys, I don't want them to make fun of me all night?"

"No. Rule number one, never be embarrassed of a date."

"I'm not embarrassed of her but it's kinda soppy," He mumbled.

"Don't care," Sharpay said brutally, "It should be 'soppy', she needs a little romance; actually a lot of romance."

Troy let out a breath of air, "Ok. So I was thinking at first maybe have a nice long walk and take a picnic and then go to an art museum because she loves anything and everything to do with it and then take her out to her a fancy dinner and then maybe the beach or something and I was going to take her to this really weird dark, small but intimate bar; it's so cool in there but then I thought trying to cram all of that into one day would probably tire her out and not be as relaxing as doing each of those things separately. So I went back to the drawing board and remembered that we had a conversation about enjoying life so this is my plan. Pick her up, take her out for a big breakfast because she says how she never has time to have one anymore, then go to six flags and I'm not sure about dinner yet, maybe take her back to mine and cook something for her, something a little more intimate," He suggested, "I thought Disney but maybe if things work out then maybe I can take her, Xavier and Noah one day," He shrugged.

Sharpay was silent for a moment and it made Troy nervous, he touched the back of his neck before rubbing there, "That's a great idea!" She exclaimed.

"Good because I kinda already got the tickets," Troy chuckled, "For Monday."

"Please don't drink too much then because I really don't want you to puke all over her," Sharpay crinkled her nose.

Troy chuckled, "I have a day to recover, its fine."

"Shar?" A familiar voice to two of the four and one which Chad and Zeke had only heard a few times.

"Backyard!" Sharpay shouted.

Soon enough, Gabriella walked around the side of the house where Sharpay and Chad had walked only ten minutes before, "Oh," Gabriella said surprised, "Hey," She greeted to everyone and continued to walk over towards them.

Sharpay wrapped her arm around Gabriella's neck in affection, "You will have a blast on Monday?"

"Monday?" Gabriella frowned.

"Yeah, your date with Troy," Sharpay said, hugging her with two arms now.

"My date with Troy?" Gabriella questioned, looking over and up at Troy who was currently rubbing the back of her neck.

"You haven't asked her yet?" Sharpay squealed, walking over to him and slapping his arm.

"Ow," He moaned, "We did say we'd do something on Monday but she doesn't know what and we didn't class it as a date," He explained.

"I'm gonna save your ass and we're gonna get out of here," Zeke said, taking a hold of Troy's neck from behind and guiding them to walk towards the house so they could go out.

"Hey! Where's my kiss?" Sharpay shouted, folding her arms and pouting.

Zeke stopped before he got into the house and jogged back to give her a long winded goodbye; resulting in Troy walking back towards Gabriella.

"Will you consider Monday as a date?" He asked bluntly.

Gabriella smirked up at him, "We'll see if it's good enough and I'll let you know."

Troy smiled down at her, touching both of her elbows softly and rubbed her triceps slowly, "Ok, deal," He gently guided her closer to him so he could whisper with only her hearing it, "Just so know, I'm not going out tonight to get with any girls, it's just a boys night out."

Gabriella bit down on her lower lip and nodded, "Ok but there's no reason for you not to hook up with anyone, you are a single man."

Troy frowned a little, "I've also been spending a few of my evenings this week with a phenomenal woman but I don't want to disrespect so therefore, I'm not going to go and kiss some other girl."

Gabriella pressed her lips together, "I guess this is the part where I trust what you're saying."

Troy couldn't help but let a smile form on his face, "Exactly. You have my word, I'm going to stick to it," He told her firmly.

"Ok," She said simply.

Troy nodded, "Alright," He looked over his shoulder to see nobody there, "Have a good night," He muttered, stroking to her hands to give them a gentle squeeze.

"You too," She said.

Troy quickly leant down to press a kiss to her cheek before winking and jogging round the side of the house to wear he knew Zeke and Chad would be waiting for him; on the porch.

Gabriella walked into the house, through the back door and met Sharpay in her living room, "Your house is incredible," Gabriella said in awe as she sat on the comfortable couch which she closed her eyes at.

Sharpay laughed, "Thanks. Did my sister take her kids with her?" She asked.

Gabriella looked at her, "Yeah, Adele is the cutest little girl. I think Xavier might like her by the end of the night," She giggled.

Sharpay's older sister, Lola, who Gabriella knew from high school. She had offered to take care of Xavier and Noah so Sharpay and Gabriella could have a nice catch up. Lola had taken her five year old daughter, Adele with her so they could all play together.

Sharpay laughed, "She'll be a heart breaker for sure," She giggled.

Gabriella agreed, curling her legs up underneath her, "So I'm guessing you approve of Troy's plan?" Gabriella asked.

Sharpay gave large nods to Gabriella, "Yeah. He has loads of ideas of where to take you and they're all super sweet so if Monday goes well then you're granted that the next couple of dates will be amazing," Sharpay said romantically.

"I guess we'll see how Monday goes," Gabriella shrugged with a hint of a smile on her face.

Sharpay grinned at her best friend, "Do you want me to have Xav and Noah for the night?" She asked.

Gabriella widened her eyes, "Sharpay Evans!" She exclaimed, "No!"

Sharpay shrugged her dainty shoulder, "Just thought I'd ask, gimme a text if you change your mind."

Gabriella shook her head, "I'm not having sex with him, Shar."

"I never said anything about sex, I just thought maybe you might like to spend the night with him and wake without having to get Xavier and Noah up for school," Sharpay defended.

Gabriella shook her head, "Xavier will get the bus and I'll need to take Noah so it's fine."

Sharpay huffed, "Gab, when was the last time you let a man romance you a little? You know, just relax and go to bed, sleep a little or a lot, wake up and have him make you breakfast in bed and lounge about," She asked dreamily.

Gabriella laughed lightly, "A long time ago and I'm not missing it so I'm fine."

"No, you're just forgetting that you miss it," Sharpay elaborated.

Gabriella shrugged, "It's not like it matter. He's out with his friends tonight so who knows what could happen," She said, bringing a pillow into her lap.

Sharpay gave her a sympathetic look, "Babe, he won't do anything."

Gabriella simply shrugged.

Sharpay sighed, knowing that her insecurities stemmed from being with one man for a long, long time and who ultimately betrayed her in a way that could tear down a man or woman and make them doubt some many people in the future, "He won't do anything, literally he hasn't wanted to take anyone out on a date for a while."

Gabriella stroked over the cushion, "I dunno," She huffed and Sharpay gave her a small smile.

/

Gabriella laughed loudly as she watched Xavier attempt to jump in from the sides of the good sized pool onto a large inflatable dinosaur. Gabriella was standing in the water next to Noah who was floating with some inflatables attached to him as did his older brother. A few minutes later while Gabriella and Noah cheered on Xavier to jump; carefully in Gabriella's case, she heard the gate from the backyard open and shut and she looked up to see Taylor who she hadn't spoken to in years walk around the corner of her house.

"Hey," Gabriella said in surprise.

"Hey, I heard you moved so I thought I'd come round just to say hey," Taylor said, as she sat next to the pool.

Gabriella smiled back at her softly, "Yeah, I moved here, maybe, three weeks ago," She nodded.

Taylor nodded, "Shar told me, she also told me about you spend time with Troy Bolton," She smirked.

Gabriella shrugged, "Yeah, it's good to have someone around, Shar, Troy," She listed off.

Taylor nodded and looked down at her legs before looking up again, "I'm sorry things ended the way they did between us. Geez, I sound like we've broken up," She laughed, "But I'm sorry. That argument was so unnecessary and even when we tried to sort things out, we didn't."

"Yeah," Gabriella sighed, looking over at Xavier who was trying to teach Noah how to swim, "I guess, some of the things you said in the heat of the moment were mean and I never said anything horrible to you but you kept going and," She trailed off, shaking her head, "I always feel Noah got blamed and me being pregnant with him ruined everything."

Gabriella began to think back about the day when she had told Taylor she knew that Jake was cheating on her, not long before she filed for divorce. The result Gabriella was expecting was that she could voice all of her worries and issues without begin judge however, the reality was that Taylor had jumped into ranting to her about having kids so young and getting married and how he must feel pressure to provide for his family and she wasn't surprised that he had fled to relieve the tension and the pressure and have some fun with no responsibilities. This had led to Taylor saying that she thought having kid's young was a mistake and she wouldn't be able to live her life and having Noah was just a mistake being repeated. Therefore, Gabriella of course had gotten extremely defensive as everyone seemed to place the blame on her and having Noah and consequently she felt that people blamed Noah for the breakdown of Gabriella's and Jake's relationship which she hated and so when Taylor tried to make things right, Gabriella really didn't want anything to do with her.

"Would you change anything though?" Taylor asked.

"No, of course not. Sure when you get married and have kids, you think everything is going to be fine, even at twenty but I have those two and I don't need anything more," Gabriella smiled, looking over at them, "And I feel that this whole situation has made them closer so I'm not complaining," She looked back at Taylor who had a smile on her face, "How are you doing?" She asked.

Taylor dangled her short covered legs in the pool from her seating position, "Good, I broke up with Jarrod about three months ago though," She informed.

Gabriella's jaw dropped in shock, "No way!" She exclaimed, "What happened?"

Taylor tilted her head with a shrug, "I just wasn't feeling the same as I had before."

Gabriella nodded, "You were with each other for years!"

Taylor laughed, "Ok Gabs, just rub it in," She joked.

Gabriella cringed, "Sorry."

/

"Do you want to stay for dinner?" Gabriella asked as herself and Taylor lay on a sun lounger each. Gabriella had thrown on a large tee shirt once she was dry and they were now watching the kids play and catching up.

"If you have enough for me, sure, I'd love too," Taylor grinned.

Gabriella grinned, "Good."

/

"Gosh, living with a man and feeding him and two kids really has made your cooking amazing," Taylor praised as they lay back against the couch after Gabriella had put Xavier and Noah to bed.

Gabriella laughed, "Thanks. I like food so I enjoy making up new meals but I do get a little help from Shar or Zeke sometimes."

"I can imagine, how's the restaurant doing?" Taylor asked.

"Really well apparently," Gabriella informed just as her cell phone began to ring. She reached over the side of the couch to take it off charge and answer it quickly, "Hello?"

"Hey," A male voice sounded down the phone, "I was going to call earlier about tomorrow but I feel like shit and my voice was all gross."

Gabriella giggled, lifting her legs to she was curled up with a blanket covering her legs, "Big night then?"

"Oh yeah," He chuckled, "But I stuck to my word, nothing happened," He added softly.

Gabriella rolled her eyes toward Taylor, "Sure you did. The words 'big night' and 'nothing happened' never go together."

"Well in this case they do. You can ask Zeke and Chad if you'd like."

"Of course they'd say you didn't do anything bad, they're your friends," Gabriella exclaimed lightly.

Troy sighed, "Gabriella, I really want to take you on this date tomorrow, do you really think I'm dumb enough to screw that up?" He asked.

Gabriella licked her lips as she looked down at the blanket and began to run her finger tips over it, "I guess not."

"Good. Now, tomorrow, I'll pick you up at like half eight because we have a couple of hours drive tomorrow," Troy said suspiciously.

Gabriella frowned but couldn't help the smile that spread across her face, "Ok?" She questioned.

"Cool, dress casually, we're going to have a fun day," Gabriella could hear the smile and happiness in his voice which her heart just ached at.

"Ok, you better get rid of that hangover before tomorrow," She teased.

Troy chuckled, "I will. Xavier and Noah ok?" He asked.

That question alone warmed her heart; the fact that he was asking about her children made her continue to want to see him, he wasn't trying to pretend they weren't in the picture, "Yeah, they're good. We've been outside in the pool most of the day," She told him.

"It's been a beautiful day except this sun kinda hurt my eyes," He joked.

Gabriella giggled and glared at Taylor as she shouted 'flirt', "Did you all behave though?"

"Yep, it was just a boys' night out. I'll tell you more tomorrow but Chad got lucky," She could hear the smirk in his voice.

Gabriella rolled her eyes again, "Boys," She scoffed.

"Be nice," He mumbled, "Anyway, I hear you have company so I'll let you go."

"It's just Taylor, I wish going to invite you over but someone decided to show their face," Gabriella winked at Taylor.

Troy chuckled, "We've got all tomorrow together."

"Yeah," She bit down on her lower lip.

"Alright, I hope you're having a good night and I'll see you tomorrow," He said.

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Gabriella questioned.

"Gabriella," Troy laughed, "Go. Goodnight," Troy said waiting for her response.

"Goodnight," She murmured and they both hung up.

Gabriella turned to look at Taylor after placing her cell phone back on the ground. She frowned in question of the raised eyebrow and large smirk in her lips which was almost a smile, "Yes?" She tested.

"Girl, you are smitten," Taylor cooed, "Are you guys seeing each other?" She questioned.

Gabriella shook her head, "Not really, we met just over a week ago and he's come over like three times after the boys are in bed and we had lunch together last Monday but tomorrow he has the whole day planned for us which I'm super nervous and excited about," She admitted.

"That's sweet," Taylor said in awe, "Why are you nervous? You've spent quite a bit of time with him this week."

Gabriella shrugged, pulling the blanket up high, "I dunno, I just haven't been on that my dates and I don't think I've ever spent the day with someone I've known a week so I'm a little apprehensive."

Taylor nodded, "Just go with the flow girl. Have you kissed yet?" She said in the girlish way.

Gabriella laughed, "No."

"And why not?" She asked, incredulously, "Do you not want too? I've seen him a couple of times around town and he's not bad on the eyes. What's stopping you?"

Gabriella grinned with a tint of a blush on her cheeks, "Yeah, he's gorgeous but," Gabriella shrugged, "Yeah but I don't know how long until it's ok to do that. He kinda implied he wanted to the first day I met him but I was like; no way, too soon and then Thursday night I sort of rejected him again," She cringed.

Taylor winced, "That's man's ego must be so hurt," They giggled, "What happened?"

"On Thursday?" Gabriella asked which received a nod from Taylor, "Erm, we were just goofing around and I was on his lap…"

" _Troy, shhh," Gabriella laughed quietly while he grappled for her waist as she tried to scramble from his lap._

 _Troy had a huge boy-ish grin on his face, "Get here," He softly demanded, capturing her waist and bringing her down to rest on his lap, "There's no getting away now," He teased, tickling her sides lightly making her jerk back in his lap._

 _Gabriella was giggling quietly the whole time as Troy slid her down his lap as she was pressed up against his body, "What if I don't want you here anymore, then I'll get away," She grinned widely._

 _Troy shook his head and looked into her face as now she was straddling his lap, she was roughly the same head height as him, "Nope, you've never getting away now."_

 _Gabriella smiled a little more softly, her small hands going behind his head, gently rubbing the nape of his neck as he tilted his head back a little and groaned happily as how it felt._

" _If you do this for me all the time, you're never getting away," He said with a hum to his voice and closed eyes._

 _Gabriella smile never left her face as she occasionally placed more pressure on his neck. She felt his large palms run up to her mid-back before falling back down to her hips as if he didn't have the strength to reached all the way up while he was feeling this way. A couple of minutes later, Troy's head tilting up right and he gave her a lazy smile while guiding her closer to his body by her hips so their stomachs were touching. He leant up as he was previously slouched against her couch and his pine continued to elongate as his head came closer to hers. Gabriella sensed what he wanted and as he got closer, his boy-ish blue eyes falling to her full lips to confirm her thoughts. Just a couple of centimetres before, she watched as his eyes shut and at that moment she bit down on her lower lip and quickly kissed his cheek before jumping out of his grasp._

" _I got away," Gabriella tried to joke._

 _Troy was sat forward, his elbows on his knees and nodded. He licked his lips before falling back against the couch, his arms folded, "You did," He said simply._

 _Gabriella sensed his disappointment and slight confusion. She copied his action and folded her arms, "I'm sorry," She whispered._

" _Do you not want to kiss me or something? You flirt with me and cuddle with me, I don't get it," He admitted._

 _Gabriella pressed her lips together, "I do but we've have only known each other a couple of days."_

" _So now time has something to do with wanting to kiss someone?" Troy asked, frowning._

" _No, but I don't want to kiss and then weeks later, I'm like ok this isn't working out," Gabriella admitted._

" _It's only a little kissing, it's fun," Troy smirked slightly, "Don't worry, it's cool. It'll happen when you feel comfortable because then you'll enjoy it," He reassured and stood up to wrap his arms around her so she didn't feel or look as vulnerable as she did._

 _Gabriella nodded, her eyes closed as her head met the warmth of his chest, "Thank you," She whispered._

"Oh, he's sweet," Taylor gushed.

Gabriella nodded with a blush, "I can't wait to get to know him more, I feel like I've just moaned about my life half the time we've spoken," She exaggerated.

Taylor laughed, rolling her eyes at her friend. She was incredibly glad that the two had come into each other's lives again. It had taken her a couple of weeks to buck up the courage to go around to Gabriella's new house and speak with her but she was glad she left it no longer or else it would have been time wasted. Plus, Gabriella was extremely glad her friend had the courage to do it because she wasn't sure she had. Finally, Gabriella was becoming a happier person outside of her 'mom' life and starting to enjoy her friend life and the possible relationship side of her. She was excited for the future.

* * *

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. Any thoughts and constructive criticism is much apprecaite. Please review. Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

Hi, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm a bit nervous to put this up as I don't feel 100% good about it, I was a little bit stuck writing it but I hope that doesn't come across too much. Thank you for reading and please review.

* * *

Monday morning was extremely sunny and pretty warm but Gabriella knew that at this time of the year when the sun dropped into the sky indicating that it was night time; the air would get cooler and a jacket would be needed. She contemplated what the right outfit would be and finally she settled on a black and white striped strappy bodysuit with a pair of vintage looking and slightly loose and extremely worn in pair of high waisted shorts along with a pair of low top converse and some sunglasses.

She changed before helping out her boys like she did every morning and efficiently got them to school on time in time for her to have a strong coffee before Troy was due to arrive. Gabriella let out a nervous breath and began to tinker with her cell phone while she waited to try and get Troy and their impending date off her mind.

When the doorbell rang, there was no getting her mind off it anymore, "Holy shit," She muttered, running her fingers through her hair once more before walking to open the door. Once she stood in the hall, one more deep breath and she pulled it open.

"Hey, I was beginning to think you'd bailed," Troy said with a large grin.

Gabriella shook her head, "I would never," She returned before looking up at him, "What happened to you?" She gasped, reaching out as if she was going to touch his face but she snatched her hand back when she thought that they may not be at that stage.

Troy winced at her reaction, "Guys night ended up a little… scrappy?" He crinkled his nose.

Gabriella licked her lips quickly, "You had a fight with your friends?" She asked with a tint of shock in her voice. She squinted her brown eyes slightly to look harder at the obvious cut vertically across his cheekbone and the couple of scratches on his jaw along with a forming bruise beneath them.

"No, no," He countered, "Some jackass started a fight with Chad and I defended him and Zeke sort of mentioned that I had a date which I couldn't go to if I looked beat up and then the guy started to say shit about you and," He shook his head, feeling a little ashamed, "And… well, this happened," Troy said, gesturing to his face, "Listen if you don't want to go out with me today, we can do it another time, I know-"

Gabriella interrupted, "No, we'll go today," She gave him a slight smile, "I don't mind. You did it because people were insulting me," She shrugged, "But just so you know, I'd be shouting at you so bad right now if Xavier and Noah were here; they cannot see you like that," She wafted her hand towards his face.

"I know. I'm sorry. Alcohol, male pride and guys talking shit about a woman I'm taking out do not mix well together," Troy said with an apologetic shrug.

Gabriella nodded and then a slow smirk took over her face, "Besides, it's like going out with a bad boy."

Troy let his own smirk develop, "Oh really? Little high school fantasy?" He questioned, teasingly.

Gabriella laughed a little, staying quiet for a moment which made his thick eyebrows shoot up as she failed to deny it.

"You're not denying it!" Troy exclaimed.

"I'm not admitting it either," She shot back with a grin.

Troy rolled his eyes, "Everyone knows that when you don't deny something like that, it's gotta be true," He grinned.

Gabriella rose a single eyebrow and her full lips pouted slightly, giving him a subtly sultry look; smirking at what he was saying.

"That's naughty Montez, very naughty," Troy said while he eyes glazed over at the steady increase of attraction he felt towards the woman in front of him.

As Gabriella collected her belongings from behind the door for the day out, Troy couldn't help but let his eyes appreciate her figure, "Are you ready?" He asked.

"Yeah," She said distractedly; her own eyes appreciating the way his tee shirt stretched across his chest and arms subtly but enough for her to know that he would be getting many of the type of looks she was giving him today.

"Great, let's go," He said excitedly as she stepped outside to him after grabbing her cell phone and an off white, soft, oversized zip up jacket for the evening. Troy had told her it would be easier if she didn't lug a purse around with her all day, telling her she wouldn't need any money and if she really wanted to take some, he would keep it in his wallet that he would keep in his pocket.

Gabriella locked up her house and fell into step with Troy, walking down to the black Audi which Gabriella was surprised he owned.

"I cleaned it yesterday; all for you," He charmed with a large smile.

Gabriella let slip a little giggle at the proud look on his face, "Aw, you look like a fifteen year old boy going on his first date with that smile," She teased as he unlocked the car, opening the door for her, "How very gentlemanly of you, how long will that last?" She smirked.

Troy chuckled, shutting the door before getting in the driver's side, "Firstly," He paused while he pulled on his seatbelt and checked that it was safe to pull out, "I had my first date when I was fourteen and I'm always a gentleman," He smirked at the second part of the statement, looking behind him as he backed out of her drive onto the road.

Gabriella picked up on his facial expression and laughed, "Says the guy who questioned whether we'd have a bath together the first night you came over," She said with a raised eyebrow as she looked at the side of his face, noting the slight stubble and a small cut above his eyebrow that she hadn't noticed before.

Troy chuckled as he put the car into drive and started down the street, "I was just curious," He laughed.

Gabriella grinned, looking out the window, "I haven't had one this week actually," She said, casually.

Troy looked over at her seemingly innocent comment, "No? Maybe tonight you could have an extra long one," He said, one hand on the wheel and one casually laying in his lap.

"That would be so nice, some candles and music and a ton of bubbles," She sighed giving the impression that, that idea sounded heavenly.

"You know how I said I am a gentleman? But the things you are listing off right now are _not_ doing well to keep those images of you out of my head," He said, honestly.

Gabriella's jaw dropped and she slapped his thigh, "You need a filter between your brain and your mouth," She said with a hint of amusement in her voice.

"I thought you wanted an honest guy?" He questioned cheekily.

"Yeah and you're my friend who's gonna help me find one, right?" She joked with a closed mouthed smirk.

Troy reached over and squeezed her bare thigh, making her squeal in surprise, "Oh so I'm like a gay best friend now?"

"I should have known you were gay. You have good hair and good style…" She trailed off, reaching over to pat his shoulder, "It's ok, we'll find you a guy as well today."

Troy playfully attempted to bite her hand that lay on his broad shoulder, "The images going through my head a couple of minutes ago would prove that I am definitely not gay," He looked over at her as she rolled her eyes.

"Filter," Gabriella muttered.

Troy chuckled, "We're in this car for the next two hours so you better start being nice to me, Montez."

Gabriella settled back against the seat, "Or I can choose to ignore you which would be equally as entertaining."

Troy laughed, "You are brutal," He exclaimed.

Gabriella rolled her head to the side to once again take in his side profile and this time rather than noticing his cuts and stubble; she ran her eyes along his strong jawline, his messy hairstyle and soft, slightly plump lips that softened the look of his clean cut facial features. His shoulders were broad and his neck was strong. However, before she could get any further down towards his biceps which she simply wanted to hold her, Troy spoke and glanced at her then smirking, catching her gaze but didn't comment.

"When was your first date?" Troy asked.

Gabriella placed both of her hands on her thighs, examining her nails, "When I was 15."

"Oh yeah? How did it go?" He questioned, stopping at a red light and turning his head to look at her.

"I married him," Gabriella looked over at Troy's surprised expression, "What?"

"I didn't realise you started to date when you were fifteen and then I'm guessing you didn't go on a date for the eight years you guys were together?"

Gabriella shook her head, "Nope, I never did anything that would class as cheating."

Troy smiled softly at her, "I appreciate a loyal woman," He informed her, moving his hand to lay on her thigh affectionately, stroking his thumb across her smooth skin, "And have you been dating since you split up?"

Gabriella shrugged, "It's nearly been two years since we divorced but nearly two and a half since I finished things so I've dated a little, only in the last year really but nothing more than a couple of dates really," She lay her hand over his on her thigh.

Troy nodded and began to move the car forward again, "No relationships?"

"Nope."

"Anything more than a couple of dates?" He asked, thinking her was being coy but Gabriella smirked.

"Yes but just when I went out with some friends when I've been a little drunk and I've gone back with them. I literally have been out clubbing maybe two times in two and a half years," She admitted.

Troy nodded, "Do you not get horny sometimes?" He asked hesitantly.

"Troy," She laughed, "We are not talking about this."

"Ok, fine," He chuckled, "I'm sorry."

Gabriella squeezed his hand and look out of the window, "Have you gotten around?" She asked, looking back at him as she brought her other hand to his to play with his fingers.

Troy shrugged, "I've been single for four years," He announced, "I don't know if you knew but I haven't had a girlfriend since I was 23 so in the sense of a relationship I don't get around but outside of relationships, for example one night stands or you know, friends with benefits kind of situation? Yeah, I used to quite a bit," He cringed, "Just being honest," He tried to joke.

"How much is quite a bit?" She questioned.

Troy licked his lips, "Let's just say I can't count how many girls on two hands outside of relationships."

Gabriella pressed her lips together, "I can count how many on this," She said, holding up three fingers.

Troy smiled widely, "That's incredibly cute," He stroked her outer thigh with his thumb as Gabriella had stopped playing with his fingers.

"Shhh," She tutted, tapping his hand, "So four years is a long time," She mentioned.

"It is," Troy agreed, "I was with the girl for seven months; I loved her so much, I genuinely thought she was it. I had been searching for engagement rings online and had called in to a couple of shops but I started to notice that she wasn't the same anymore and was really sneaky and the next month, she was pictured on a night out hooking up with some trying-to-make-it-big celebrity who apparently should have had his break years ago." He rolled his eyes, "I broke up with her and she told me I couldn't give her what she needed even though my business was doing well. Chad, Zeke and Shar always tell me I try to please my girlfriends too much and I pick the wrong girl; they tell me that I can try to do anything to make the girl happy if she tries to make me happy too," Troy shrugged, "I sorta gave up looking for a while after."

"So while you put your all into a relationship and were planning a future, she decided you weren't good enough for her and took off with some Hollywood wannabe?" Gabriella asked with shock evident in her voice.

Troy nodded slowly as he continued to drive, "Yep, I loved her a lot, I haven't found someone who makes me feel the way she did but I don't approve of cheating and I would never do it myself or get over someone doing it to me. If a girl even kisses another guy when she's with me then we're done period, no going back or second chances," He said firmly.

Gabriella nodded in agreement, "Definitely, I totally agree."

Troy nodded, moving his large palm from her thigh to take her hand in his, pressing a kiss to the back of her it, "Just so you know, I would never hurt you that way," He whispered.

Gabriella smiled softly at him, "Me neither. But let's go find you a guy who won't," She winked at him to lighten the mood.

Troy burst out laughing, lowering their hands to his lap, "You are so in for it when I'm not driving which will be in about twenty minutes when we stop for breakfast. Do you remember when we were talking about how you rush every morning and you hadn't had a huge breakfast for years?" He asked, glancing over at her.

Gabriella was now facing Troy at an angle, her back pressed against the edge of the chair and her hands now lay in her own lap, "Mhm," He hummed in agreement.

"Well we are going all out and having a huge breakfast this morning," He informed with a grin as he put on the blinker to turn and turned the car.

Gabriella grinned at Troy and let out a small squeal in excitement earning an amused look from Troy. They continued to chat casually along the way and only stopping when Troy pulled up outside of a diner which did have a few people in from the time of day. They both slid out of the car and walked over to the door which Troy pulled open and gestured for her to go first.

"Troy Bolton!" An older man shouted with a grin from behind the counter.

Troy looked up just as he placed his hand on the small of Gabriella's back to guide her to a booth. His face split into a large grin and then he looked down at Gabriella and gave her a reassuring smile and they both walked off.

"Hey, how you doin'?" Troy asked, leaning over the counter to give the man a half hug.

Gabriella watched the interaction quietly as Troy chatted to a man who seemed to be around the age of thirty-five and had the start of deepening lines at the outer corners of his eyes. He appeared to be friendly and talkative but he also looked a little rugged and with Troy's banged up face he seemed to fit in well with the older man.

"So who's this little beauty?" The older man asked.

Troy chuckled lightly and nodded his head for her to come closer as giving them time to talk. He watched her walk over tentatively and he placed his hand on the middle of her back; giving it a gentle rub, "Rex this is Gabriella and Gab, this is my friend from colleges older brother, Rex," He introduced.

"Nice to meet ya," He said with a grin and held his hand out to Gabriella.

Gabriella took his hand with a smile, "You too," She smiled widely.

"New girlfriend?" Rex asked the both of them hesitantly.

Troy shook his head, "No, I'm just taking her out for the day," He explained.

"What? Are you gay, boy? She's a beauty, don't let her slipped through your fingers; nice too," He added and winked at Gabriella who was giggling at him.

Troy chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck, "I'll try."

"So what happened to you? You look a little roughed up," Rex commented with raised bushy eyebrows, "Like back in the day, ay?" He smirked.

Troy raised his eyebrows from a split second, "Yeah," He let out a breath with a hint of laughter, "Me, Chad and Zeke went out last night and this guy started something with Chad so I got involved."

Rex smirked, "Typical Troy Bolton," He laughed deeply, "Never were the goody, innocent and stay out of trouble type were you."

Troy winced and shook his head briefly, "No, not really. That's the first time in a while though."

"Good. I guessed so, I had no calls to come save you and Rocco's ass lately," He chuckled, referring to his younger brother who was the same age as Troy.

"Save our asses. Dude, we did it all on our own, you were the guy we called to pick us up," Troy laughed, slowly beginning to get into 'boy' mode.

"Oh please," Rex laughed loudly, "How many times did my girlfriend have to fix you to up so the hospital wouldn't ask questions?" He asked, smirking.

Troy narrowed his eyes, "You took Rocco once though, man, it was close," He shook his head.

"That night was the worst night of my life," He exclaimed.

Troy nodded, "Leah was a life saver though, she was awesome."

"She's now my fiancée," Rex said with a huge grin.

Troy matched his smile, "Congrats man! Rocco never said."

"Rocco doesn't remember shit," Rex chuckled.

Troy gave a nod in agreement, "It was good to see you dude, we'll keep in touch," He smiled.

"Definitely. Just come over when you're ready to order," Rex nodded once.

"Sweet," Troy smiled and turned to look at Gabriella and they both walked to a booth by a window.

Gabriella immediately looked out of it and stayed quiet, her eyebrows furrowed together slightly; giving off the impression that she was in deep thought.

"Hey," Troy called softly, leaning his arm across the table to peel her arms apart from their crossed position.

"What the fuck?" Gabriella asked with a frown, "Who the fuck are you?" She cussed.

Troy frowning face relaxed in surprised at her words, "You have an idea of who I am now, we've spent a little time together," He mumbled.

Gabriella swallowed, "Why the fuck did you need to go to hospital and why wouldn't you go if you needed to before? Why would the hospital ask questions that you didn't want to answer?" She ranted off.

Troy held her hands in both of his on the table and he leant over a little further, "When I was in college, some things got out of hand, ok? Me and a friend, we got into some dodgy shit and more times than not, we needed Leah, Rex's girlfriend to clean us up; she was training to be a nurse," He explained, "But this was when I was twenty-one and everything finished when I was about twenty-two, a few of months before my twenty-third birthday and about 6 months before I met my ex."

Gabriella pulled her hands away and looked out of the window again, "You're being so shady."

Troy closed his eyes briefly, "Listen," He breathed, "Please, do not repeat this," He whispered.

The tone in his voice had Gabriella snap her head back to look at him as he still had his eyes closed.

"I was twenty-one and in college, I had no idea what to do with my life; I was incredibly lost and my friends all seemed to know what they wanted minus Rocco. We started to go out more now we could legally and try… stuff-"

"Drugs?" Gabriella interrupted.

Troy nodded, "Yeah. We did it a lot. We'd turn up to lectures out of it and," He shook his head, "I only did it when we went out which was still a lot and occasionally when I was on my own inside my apartment. I was pretty lonely even though I still everyone around me but I knew they spoke shit about me behind my back; that's when I'd do it on my own when I didn't know who to trust. But Rocco was hardcore addicted; he was struggling for money and had guys knock on his door so many times and he got beat up. I couldn't just leave my buddy, you know. So I helped him, not in the way I should have. I helped him get money together to pay off the debt he was in with so many bad guys and I helped him get money to continue to get more," He shook his head, "I was so stupid. We kept going out, trying to get money together, we got in so many fights. We thought we had such a good time on all this stuff but there so many times we'd wake up and not have a fucking clue where we were. We looked like shit. I remember one time I woke up on the floor of some random living room and there were smashed bottles everywhere, left over drugs and… equipment, there were guys still doing all the stuff they were doing the night before. There was a girl naked next to me and another on the couch. It made me feel sick. I couldn't remember anything. That's probably when I knew me and Rocco were in deep. It wasn't just him who was addicted then; it was me too. That day when I woke up, seeing all that stuff. I just felt like I had to go find Rocco, something in me told me to find her quick and I did and he…" He shook his head pressing the base of his hands into his eyes, "Rex came," Troy coughed, "He took him straight to the hospital. As soon as he came out of the hospital, we both went to rehab and got clean; we got fit and healthy and started to live healthier."

Gabriella was looking at him sadly but she stayed back against the booth, not knowing what to say.

"I wish I would have stopped at helping him to pay everyone back and they sorted us both us before I got that bad and Rocco had to be hospitalised," Troy shook his head, "I'll never stop feeling guilty for what I enabled Rocco get like," Troy let out a unamused chuckle, "Now you know, I can imagine now you don't want me anywhere near your kids."

Gabriella pressed her lips together, "I'm not someone who judges people based on their past and what they have been through. I'm going to stop them speaking to you if they see you on the street, you've been nothing but good to them," She lifted one shoulder up.

Troy nodded with a hint of a smile, "I didn't want to tell you yet. I wanted you to get to know who I am today first and for that not to be tainted by how I was years ago."

Gabriella leant forward on the table of the booth, "I think you were young and didn't know how far to go with helping your friend and by taking it too far, both of you got equally as messed up but you're strong for getting through that and getting clean and you look good today, you seem to work out and I bet you eat good so," She shrugged, "If you're not judging me, why should I judge you for making a mistake and then rectifying it; that's good, not bad."

Troy nodded silently, "You're not freaked out?"

Gabriella smiled a little more, "A little but at least if we get into danger, you know I few moves," She winked, making light of the situation.

Troy grinned at her, "Thank you," He whispered, "I've been worried about telling you since I first came to your house."

Gabriella smiled, "It's not as bad as you thought it was going to be?" She questioned with a hint of hope in her voice.

"At first, I thought you were gonna scream and yell at me and walked out but you let me speak and tell you everything without being judged so I couldn't have wished for anything more," He husked with a feel of romance intertwined in his words.

Gabriella smiled sweetly at him, "Good, I'm glad you approve," She giggled, "How long have you been clean for?"

"Five years last month," He grinned, proudly.

Gabriella giggled at his proud lopsided grin she showed her, "That's amazing."

"Thanks," He said with the same smile, "Now I don't know about you but I'm starving."

/

"So you didn't tell her before, huh?" Rex said as he took the money from Troy to put into the cash register.

Troy frowned for a moment before he realised what Rex was talking about, "Oh. No, she kinda freaked out so I had to explain," Troy told him.

Rex nodded, "Well I'm sorry man, I didn't mean to drop you in it."

"Ah, don't worry about it. I would have had to tell her sooner or later so you made it easy for me to lead into it," Troy grinned to easy the older man's mind, "Even though it is my first actual date with her," He chuckled.

"She seems like a nice girl," Rex smiled down at the younger guy who he had watched grow up and become a man Rex was very proud of.

Troy smiled widely, "Yeah, she's so awesome, she's really chilled."

Rex nodded, "That's good. You're comfortable with her, I see that."

Troy nodded, "I am but I'm trying to impress her at the same time, she hasn't dated much in the past couple of years so I'm trying to give her a reason to stop being single," He admitted.

"Just be you, don't try to be anyone else because if you do get together, you'd have to keep up this fake persona for years and it would drive crazy," Rex advised, "I realised that with Leah, I tried to be someone I'm not and she called me out on it," He smirked.

Troy laughed, "We'll all meet up soon, me, you, Leah and Rocco. Like the old days but a bit more chilled and stable," He chuckled lightly, "Next time I see him, I'll mention it."

Rex laughed, "Definitely, sounds good man. Now go back to your date, she keeps looking over here and if I wouldn't know any better, she's checking you out too."

Troy shook his head and slapped Rex's shoulder in a manly way before walking away back to Gabriella with a smile on his face that rarely wasn't there when she was around.

"You have Rex's seal of approval," Troy smirked as he sat opposite her.

"Oh yeah?" Gabriella smiled, sipping at her strawberry milkshake.

Troy nodded, "Mhm, I value his opinion a lot so you're in luck," He winked.

Gabriella giggled, gently kicking the side of his leg beneath the table, "Dork," She teased, "So tell me about your first date, you said you were 14, right?"

Troy nodded, "Yep. It was with a girl in the grade above and she was best friend's with the most popular girl in school," He smirked, shaking his head just thinking about it, "It was probably one of the most friendly dates I've been on. We literally just made friends and that's it. We went out for smoothies after school and we just sat there and talked about TV shows but then at school she acted as if she didn't know me and laughed at me with her friends," He chuckled, remembering the day after when a smaller Troy had tried to go talk to her after being encouraged by his friends which resulted in being ignored and his ego bruised.

Gabriella giggled at his story, "Aw, little Troy was rejected," She cooed.

Troy nodded with a pending smile on his lips, "Little Troy was a geek until sophomore year of high school when he got into the varsity basketball team," He informed her. It felt good to tell her things about his past as she had told him some very in-depth things about herself and the past few years and after opening up to her about the large secret Troy held, he felt that it was easier now to open up about his whole past; his childhood and school experiences.

"Oh really? So he wasn't always this big tough guy?" Gabriella teased, opening her mouth and stuck her tongue out a little to grasp her straw with no hands.

Troy watched this action and shifted in his seat before his eyes quickly flicked to hers, "No way, I started to work out in my sophomore year and then throughout high school and college. When everything happened, I did less but when I decided to actually live again, I wanted to look my best," Troy enlightened her about his thoughts and feelings of various times of his life.

Gabriella nodded in understanding, "Once you got everything bad out of your body, you wanted to feel the best you had ever felt, right?" She asked.

"Exactly," Troy agreed with a nod.

"How was high school as a jock?" She asked, wanting to know more about his life.

Troy chuckled, "Well the first year of high school I was still known as one of the geeks so when I tried out for basketball, I got laughed at but I got into the team in freshman year and got into the varsity team in sophomore year and became captain junior and senior year and we won state championships in my senior year," He grinned, he couldn't keep away the proud smile from his face. I did theatre to all through high school," He told her.

Gabriella's eyebrows rose, "Wow."

"What?"

"You don't often hear about a basketball captain on stage," Gabriella commented, "I think that's cool."

Troy chuckled, "I was going to stop doing it when I got captain but a girl who I liked got the main part so I tried out and got the part alongside her," He smirked, "You could say I had double intentions," He laughed.

Gabriella swallowed some of her milkshake while laughing and a waiter came along with their food that had Gabriella distracted for a moment, "Did you get together?" She asked.

"Mhm," Troy hummed, chewing on some of his food and swallowing before speaking, "We got together at the end of the spring show in junior year and stayed together all through high school but we split up mid-way through my second year of college."

Gabriella's eyebrows shot up, "That's a long time," She commented.

"Yeah," Troy chuckled.

"What happened?" She questioned.

Troy shrugged, cutting some of his pancakes, "We didn't see each other much and every time we saw each other again it was amazing but when I came home for winter break, we barely saw each other and when we did it wasn't the same so we just ended it mutually," Troy explained, "It's strange isn't; being with someone and talking to them and having to someone there and the next you don't have that," He said, hoping that she felt the same way when she got divorced.

Gabriella nodded, "Yeah definitely but after a while it gets easier and for me now, it's like I've always being this independent, well I always have been, Jake didn't like that much sometimes," She laughed a little, " But yeah, it gets better and easier with time, doesn't it?"

Troy nodded, "Yeah, it's just strange not having someone to turn too but that's when you realise that you can't push away your friends during any relationship."

"Exactly," Gabriella smiled.

Gabriella looked down at her breakfast that was half eaten and she couldn't help the smile that formed over her face as she noticed that the two of them did hold many of the same beliefs about relationships and the surrounding issues. They agreed on independence, importance of friends and time and that was important to her.

/

"Oh my god, Troy!" Gabriella squealed happily as they pulled into one of the many parking lots at six flags theme park.

Troy chuckled as he was guided into a space and put his car into park before he turned to see her excited expression with a huge smile plastered to her face and right then, Troy knew that making her smile this big was a new favourite thing of his to do as all he could do back with grin just a widely.

"Are you excited?" Troy asked, watching her happy but shocked expression on her face as he reached out a hand and pushed some hair away from her face with the backs of his fingertips while she sat on an angle at the edge of her seat.

Gabriella snapped from her surprise and her excited thoughts as his fingertips grazed her cheek and looked into his eyes, "Huh?" She questioned.

Troy's smile grew, "You ready?" He asked, his hand falling from her hair.

Gabriella nodded vigorously in delight, "Yes."

And with that the two of them got out of Troy's car and headed towards the entrance; simply walking side by side as Gabriella returned to the sixteen year old girl who loved to have fun and loved to go to new places and experience new things with people. There was still a part of her that still loved all of those things but they have been limited experiences for her to enjoy outside of her children.

"You having fun in la la land?" Troy teased as they waited in line to hand in their tickets around ten minutes later.

Gabriella looked back up at Troy who was now wearing his sunglasses observing her looking around the huge outside entrance, "Mhm," She hummed, biting down on her plump bottom lip; drawing Troy's attention there.

Troy chuckled as she still seemed to be almost overwhelmed and stunned hence her quietness. He placed his arm around her shoulders and guided her closer to him; her front to his front.

"Thank you, Troy," She said, looking up at him as her hands rested against his sides.

Troy smiled down at her and playfully flicked down her sunglasses, "No problem," He charmed and pressed a kiss to the top of her head as she only just reached his lips in her petite figure.

Gabriella lay her head on his right pectoral and he kept his arm around her shoulders to keep her close.

"It's such a sunny day too," Troy said, moving a long in the line and dropping his arms from her as they reached the people who they showed there tickets too.

"It's the perfect weather," Gabriella gushed, her hand touching Troy's back and rubbing it a little.

Troy looked back at her while the person was stamping his ticket and quickly noticed somebody to the side of Gabriella with their eyes glued to her lower half. He frowned lightly but it went unnoticed as his sunglasses skewed his expressions slightly, "Come on," He ushered, guiding her in front of him as he took back the tickets with a 'thank you'.

"You and the girls should come out with us sometime," Troy suggested.

"Oh yeah? And who would have Xavier and Noah?" Gabriella smirked up to him, "Don't go forgetting I have kids Bolton," She joked.

"Never," He said honestly.

Gabriella tilted her head at his genuine voice, "So you said something about Chad?" She asked to divert the cuteness in the conversation, "Last night on the phone," She prompted.

Troy nodded, "Yeah," he chuckled, "He was determined to find someone Saturday night, he got so drunk; he kept talking about how Zeke's getting married and how I've been seeing you quite a bit this past week and he said he was lonely so he found some girl but freaked the next morning and went home at like 6am," He shook his head as she wouldn't be able to see his eye roll.

Gabriella let out a small giggled, "Oh dear, has Chad ever met Taylor?"

"Taylor?" Troy questioned.

Gabriella nodded, "She's my friend, she lives nearby. She broke up with her boyfriend not too long ago, we should set them up," She said with a grin.

"Sure," Troy shrugged, "The only relationship that seems to be lasting between us all is Sharpay's and Zeke's how crazy," Troy shook his head in disbelief.

Gabriella laughed, "Right."

They continued to walk into the theme park; they walked further into the quite large mass of people for a weekday before the summer. Gabriella subconsciously moved closer to Troy seeking the safe feeling she felt whenever she was with him but the thing she was now starting to realise that not only did she feel safe around him after everything he told her, she felt excited yet nervous of the idea of him and that safeness feeling along with the excitement and unpredictability of the two of them, she was really starting to like. She was also starting to like the feeling of not being 100% comfortable, almost as if he was bringing her true self, the non-mom part of her, that had been hidden for so long out, it kept her on her toes which she always questioned whether she needed but looking over at him when he noticed her moving closer to him and when he smiled genuinely down at her, she knew he was good for her and there really was no point in trying to figure out all of her mixed feelings, she simply wanted it to be natural.

* * *

I really hope it was ok, feel free to tell me it wasn't... nicely. Thank you for reading and please review.


	4. Chapter 4

_Troy stood from the couch where himself and Gabriella were sat, having just finished dinner, he took their plates into the kitchen to put next to the sink ready to wash later or tomorrow._

" _Wine?" He called into the living room._

" _Just a little," Gabriella replied and stood from the couch to move over to the huge window wall which curved onto the two adjacent sides. She looked out at the dark night and the sea that had now come further up the beach._

" _Here," A husky voice said from behind her._

 _Gabriella felt a slight shiver run down her spine and as she turned to take the glass she noticed how close he was to her, "Thank you," She muttered as his hand lay just above her hip and gave it a gentle rub._

" _Do you like the view?" He asked._

 _Gabriella nodded, "Yeah, it's beautiful," She murmured, tilting her body to rest against his side._

 _Troy simply nodded, more than enjoying the company of this woman._

/

Gabriella ran both of her petite hands through her naturally curly, very thick hair, "Oh my god," She sighed and complained as she stood in her garage with the door up to let in some fresh air and warm weather, "Stupid, stupid, _stupid_ drawing," She groaned, slamming down her thin tipped pen.

"Hey Gabriell _or_ ," Sharpay said in a specifically sassy tone.

Gabriella pouted and looked towards the entrance of her garage. Not saying a single thing, she stomped out into the sun and met her best friend on her front lawn where she took a seat.

"Alrighty then," Sharpay frowned and sat next to her, her long legs out straight, "Are you ok?" She asked.

Gabriella lay back, "No, my drawings are dumb today and I'm tired and Xavier really didn't want to get up today so this morning was fun and ugh, it's only 11am," She whined.

Sharpay looked down and let out a small laugh, "Oh babe, just relax for an hour and try again."

Gabriella nodded with her eyes closed, pushing up the sleeves of her oversized loose dress shirt, "How are you? Haven't spoken to you since Tuesday morning."

"No," She agreed, "That's why I'm here and I'm good but I want all the gossip since Zeke has it from a primary source and I don't," Sharpay smirked.

Gabriella rolled her head to the side, "Ask Zeke."

"Gab!" Sharpay huffed, "No, you tell me," She begged.

Gabriella shrugged and moved her head to face the sun again, "What do you wanna know?"

"Why I got a text at 9pm asking me if it was ok if Xavier and Noah stayed the night and you'd pick them up first thing in the morning," Sharpay started with an amused smirk on her face.

Gabriella stuck out her bottom lip, "I spent the night at Troy's," She shrugged.

"And…" She trailed off.

"And I stayed the night," Gabriella repeated.

"Seriously girl, just tell me," Sharpay groaned.

Gabriella couldn't help but let out a small laugh at her friend, "It's not like it matters anyway, I haven't spoken to him since Tuesday morning if you could even call a sentence talking," She said.

"Has he not been in contact since?" Sharpay asked, sounding surprised.

Gabriella licked her lips, "He has but I haven't."

"Stop talking in riddles and tell me," Sharpay snapped playfully.

"He's tried calling and texting but I've not replied or answered or called back," Gabriella admitted.

"Why?" Sharpay asked.

"I don't know," Gabriella muttered.

"What sort of stuff has he been saying?" Sharpay questioned, "Good or bad stuff?"

Gabriella lifted her hips up and pulled out her cell phone that she had put into her back pocket, "Here," She threw her phone over to Sharpay who caught it, "Well done," Gabriella grinned.

"Shut up," Sharpay laughed while she unlocked the phone and went straight to the Troy conversation and began to read the most recent which had been sent at 8am this morning.

'Good morning, I don't know if I've done something wrong or hurt you in some way for you to not talk to me but I didn't mean to if I have. I've missed your company this week. I hope to talk to you soon. Have a good day x'

"Gabs, he thinks he's done something wrong," Sharpay frowned sadly.

Gabriella remained silent.

'Listen, I've tried to call you and I've text. I can't exactly just call round and demand to talk to you, you have two kids. I don't get it, I thought we had an amazing time Monday, you were amazing. Please don't let your initial doubts ruin this.'

Sharpay continued to frown as she went to the first text of four he had sent her which was from Tuesday mid-day, 'I hope you're having a good morning even if we didn't get much sleep ;) I just wanted to say I had an incredible time and I hope you did too. I'd like to take you out on another date soon if Xavier and Noah let me of course. I'll call you tonight xxx'

"Why are you not talking to him?" Sharpay questioned.

Gabriella shrugged, sitting upright then leaning back on her hands, "Man, I need to cut this lawn," She mumbled.

"Gabriella," Sharpay said in a tone of voice that immediately grabbed her attention.

"Because I can't be anything more than a friend to him, ok? I can't," She snapped.

"Then you shouldn't have slept with him and don't bother trying to tell me you haven't because Troy came round with Chad and they spoke about it yesterday. He genuinely has no idea why you won't talk to him, can you not at least let him know?" She asked.

Gabriella shook her head and wet her bottom lip, "I need to get back to work," She said, standing up and walking back into her garage.

"Gab, you can't push away every guy who shows an interest in you. Troy is actually a good guy, he wants to make you happy and Xavier and Noah. He told me he was going to take you Disney instead but he thought Xavier and Noah might like to go so he'd save that for then. What more do you want? He's handsome, he's kind, he thinks about your kids and you've known him for nearly two weeks!" She exclaimed.

Gabriella bit down on her bottom lip, "I can't," She breathed, "I…just can't."

"Why?" Sharpay asked, folding her arms as she walked into the garage.

"One of the reasons is because Jake and his new girlfriend are flying in tonight to visit Xavier and Noah ok? We're all going out to dinner and if he knows that I like Troy and I've slept with him, he'll flip and I don't need any more drama in my life," Gabriella almost shouted.

"So you won't speak to Troy because you're ex is coming to town? Gabriella that can't be it, what are the other reasons?" Sharpay pressed.

Gabriella ran her hands through her hand and gripped it at the roots, "I can't be with him, in any way other than a friend. You can tell him that."

Sharpay shook her head, "You're making a big mistake."

Gabriella swallowed and deep within she whispered 'I know' but she stayed silent and felt tears come to her eyes as she turned away from her best friend to pick up the pen and start to draw.

"Ok, if that's how you want it. I'll let him know. Call me tonight or tomorrow or I'll call you, I want to make sure you're ok after this dinner," Sharpay said.

"Ok," Gabriella whispered, her voice cracking which gave the indication to Sharpay that Gabriella really couldn't cope with all of this right now but she would never ask for help so Sharpay would wait until she was needed.

"Alright, I'll see you later," Sharpay said.

"Bye Shar," Gabriella said, not making a line on the page until she heard Sharpay walk away.

/

Gabriella was quiet the entire afternoon from when she picked up Xavier and Noah from school. However, her boys were in a talkative mood even though neither Xavier or Noah were extremely excited to see their dad and his new girlfriend which Gabriella had to explain to them about, as it had been since April that the two had seen their dad when it was Noah's third birthday.

Gabriella was knelt down in front of Xavier and she buttoned up his light blue shirt that matched dark blue almost black pants.

"Mom?" Xavier asked with a hesitance about it.

Gabriella met his eyes with a smile.

"Are you ok?" He asked.

Gabriella smile widened at how sensitive and attentive her eldest son was at the age of six and a half, "Yeah baby, I'm fine. Are you ok?"

Xavier nodded, "You look pretty," He told her partly to make her smile and because it was the truth.

Gabriella bit down on her lip, "Thank you. You look pretty handsome yourself," She grinned.

Xavier grinned back, "Dad's not gonna take us to New York is he?" He asked, moving closer to hug his mother tightly.

Gabriella shook her head as tears welled up in her eyes, "No, you're staying right here with me," She said firmly.

"Good because I'd only go if you were coming too," He said although it was a little muffled as his head was dug into her hair.

Gabriella cuddled her son closer and kissed his head firmly, "You're not going anywhere without me."

"Good," Xavier repeated, laying his head on her shoulder.

Gabriella sat hugging him for a minute more before she rubbed his sides, "Come on bud, let's go see how much mess your little brother has made," She smiled.

Xavier laughed and made his way down the stairs checking behind him that his mother was following. Gabriella had noticed that all day both Xavier and Noah have been looking for her if she wasn't in direct sight and they hadn't strayed far away from her side all afternoon.

/

Gabriella took a deep breath as she placed Noah on the ground after unbuckling him from the car seat. She took a hold of Noah's hand while Xavier stayed closer to her as they walked to the restaurant and she froze for a moment as she saw Sharpay, Zeke, Troy and Chad sat at a table by the window. Obviously, Troy and Chad had come straight from work as they wore t-shirts with the name of their business on and messy hair whereas Zeke and Sharpay were dressed a little nicer. It wasn't a fancy restaurant but it wasn't one where typically you'd wear day time clothes.

"Oh my gosh," Gabriella mumbled, feeling an eruption of butterflies but she continued to walk, glad that neither of her boys had noticed. However, Gabriella felt Noah stop and she looked down and saw him hold his arms up towards her.

"Up," He pouted.

"Come on then lazy," She teased with a smile and picking him up under his arms and placing him on her hip and she was glad for that comfort holding her children close bought.

Xavier attempted to push open the heavy door but looked up at Gabriella with a blush and Gabriella winked at him with a giggle as she opened the door and Xavier shook his head as if he was twenty years old than he was.

"Cutie," Gabriella said, ruffling his hair gently then watching him push back his hair and softly bump his head against her leg.

"Hi, can I help you?" A voice said.

Gabriella looked up and gave the waiter a smile, "Yeah, erm a reservation under Montez," She said.

The waiter began to tap on the screen and then gave her a smile, "Yes, the other two are already at the table."

Gabriella gave the best smile she could, "Great," She said in a fake cheerful voice.

The waiter guided the three towards a large table and Gabriella soon saw Jake who was turned towards a glamourous woman chatting and laughing, she felt her stomach turn and not in a good way.

"Here you go," The waiter said as they arrived which caused Jake and his new girlfriend to look up.

"Boys!" Jake exclaimed and stood up before he bent over to hug Xavier who tentatively hugged him back. Jake stood straight, "Noah, can't you walk?" Jake said with a forced chuckle.

"He's three, Jake," Gabriella said testily.

Jake's eyes shot to Gabriella's, "Still fiery I see," He commented, "Keep your voice down," He spat.

Gabriella rolled her eyes while Jake took Noah away from her arms, "Sit down Xav," Gabriella said as she sat at one side of the table, "Can you sit next your dad for me? So I can help Noah with his food?" She asked.

Xavier pulled a face, "No, I wanna sit by you," He whined.

"Xavier, please," She asked, begging him to just go along with it for now.

"Mom," He practically shouted, "No, I wanna sit by you," He groaned, causing a few tables around them to look over.

"Xavier, you're attracting attention just sit next to me," Jake said firmly, lifting him on the chair opposite his mother.

Xavier frowned and folded his arms, looking away from everybody. Gabriella lifted Noah into the seat next to her and pulled the chair a little closer so she could hold onto him.

"Xavier," Gabriella said, reaching across the table to gently tug at him arms, "Hey, look at me," She said softly and he did, "Come here," She gave him a small smile.

Xavier looked down and slid off his chair before walking to his mother who wrapped him up in a hug so she could whisper in his ear.

"Please, please, please just be good tonight. Tomorrow we can do whatever you and Noah feel like ok? Just please be nice," Gabriella whispered, rubbing his back.

"Gabriella, you can't baby them forever," Jake snapped at her, "He needs to grow up and do as he's told."

Gabriella's head snapped up, "He's tired, he's been to school today and normally he would have had his dinner and would now be relaxing, give him a break. This isn't exactly normal for them," She said as calmly as she could.

"Ok mommy," Xavier whispered as she gave him a kiss on the head and he went back to his seat.

Jake shook his head and looked over at his girlfriend, "I think I need to introduce someone, Danielle this is Gabriella, the mother of my children and this is Xavier my eldest and that is Noah my youngest and guys this is Dani, my girlfriend."

"Hi, it's nice that you want to meet your boyfriend's kids so soon," Gabriella said with the nicest smile she could muster.

"Oh no, Jake was very adamant that he wanted to make sure we were serious before I met them. It's taken three and a half years. We met when Noah would have been a few months old, he's 4 right?" Danielle said innocently.

Gabriella's eyes quickly moved to Jake's whose narrowed at her as if that if she dared to say no then bad things were to happen. Gabriella could have leant over and threw up right at that moment. Her head started to spin as she realised that the two in front of her had gotten together just a couple of months before she found out she was pregnant with Noah. He had been sleeping with someone else while he had been sleeping with her and knocked her up.

Gabriella tried to show no emotion in her face when deep down her stomach, brain and heart felt as if they were whipping around her body but she knew her face was white, she could feel it, "Yeah," She whispered, moving her eyes away from Jake.

"No, he's-" Xavier started.

Gabriella looked at Xavier and cut him off, "Would go ask the waiter for the kids menu please bud?" She asked.

Xavier frowned but smiled at his mother, "Sure," He jumped down off the seat.

Gabriella didn't speak for a few minutes while she pretended to scan the menu when the only thoughts that whipped around in her brain were now the realisation that the reason Jake was so hostile to Noah was because he was already with another girl before she even revealed she was pregnant with their second child, if it were up to him, he may have been long gone.

/

"Oh shit, what's happened?" Sharpay whispered. She had noticed Gabriella and the two boys walk in and just as she was about to shout over to them to say hi, she saw them getting walked to a table and when the view was better she saw that it was Jake and his new girlfriend. Sharpay hadn't told anyone on the table about the sighting but she kept an eye on her best friend in case she needed her and when she saw Gabriella's head snapped up and all colour drain from her normally tan face she knew something was wrong. The vision of them was so good due to Sharpay and Zeke facing the direction of the rest of the tables and Gabriella was sitting in the direction of Sharpay.

This comment from Sharpay caught the attention of her fiancé Zeke, "You ok, babe?" He asked, placing his hand on her back as her whole body went ridged.

Sharpay straightened her spine and tried to relax, taking her eyes away from Gabriella so neither of the three boys caught on, "Yeah," She said, putting on a fake smile.

"Hey Sharpie!" A small boys voice said as he walked towards a waiter that was hanging around their table.

Sharpay's eyes now shot to the little boys, Xavier, who stood at the end of their booth, his head just popping over the table.

"Hey Xav, you good?" Sharpay asked.

Xavier nodded but looked down sadly, "Can I stay over here with you?" He asked.

"Why?" Sharpay asked with a frown.

Xavier pouted and shrugged, "I need to get a menu."

Troy leant across the table, from behind Chad so he could see Xavier better, noting Sharpay's lack of response to Xavier's sad question, he knew something was off, "Hey bud," Troy said with a grin.

Xavier's eyes shot up, "Troy," He grinned, "Can I come sit with you? Can we go to your beach again soon? Can I go on the boat this time? Me, you, mom and Noah?" He rambled questions off.

Troy chuckled at the amount and at the fact that he had called the beach Troy's beach, "Of course you can go to the beach anytime and we'll get that red boat out again, ok?"

"Yeah. Mom said that if I behave and I'm nice tonight, me and Noah can do whatever you want tomorrow," Xavier said with a grin, "So I'm gonna say the beach," He said with an enthusiastic nod.

Troy chuckled, "That sounds good to me," He smiled at him genuinely, "Why have you gotta be nice and behave tonight though, buddy? I thought you were the nicest guy around," Troy winked.

Xavier shrugged, his smile falling, "Mom wanted Noah to sit by her so I had to sit next to dad but its ok mom is in front of me," He shrugged, looking down at the floor and missing the three males surprised expressions, "But that girl said Noah was four but he's three and that girl has been with dad for three and a half years. Is Noah four?" He asked, looking up with a slight head tilt.

All four of the adult's stomach's dropped and Sharpay now realised that was the reason behind why Gabriella's face turned so white.

"Hey babe, will you go take Xavier to get a menu and then back to Gabriella," Sharpay said to Zeke.

"Yeah," He muttered and stood up.

"Bye Xav, I'll see you soon," Troy said, bumping fists with Xavier who nodded with a grin, glad to put a smile back onto the little boy's face.

Sharpay let out a large breath, "Holy shit, he's been seeing that girl since Gabriella has been pregnant with Noah," She breathed, "That's why she looked so pale," She muttered.

Troy and Chad were kind of understanding what was happening but not one hundred percent certain.

"Gabriella's ex husband is here?" Troy asked with a frown.

"Yeah and he's just dropped the bombshell that he's been fucking some girl since Noah wasn't even born. This morning she looked so worried about tonight when we were talking about it and oh my god," Sharpay breathed as she spoke quickly and clenched her jaw.

"What an asshole," Chad spat.

"Oh my god, Gabriella," Sharpay whispered, shaking her head and she picked up her head to see Gabriella look up at Zeke who stopped by their table and then Gabriella's and Sharpay's eyes met.

/

"Thanks," Gabriella muttered as Zeke handed her the menu and Xavier sat back down.

"We'll see you later, Gabs," Zeke said, looking down at her meaningfully and squeezing her bare shoulder comfortingly.

Gabriella smiled up at Zeke in thanks and he walked away.

"Everything ok?" Danielle asked.

Gabriella faked a smile, "Everything's fine. So tell me more about you, I'd love to know," She said, looking over at Jake with disgust evident in her eyes but Danielle was too busy giggling and squeezing Jake's thigh at the opportunity to rave about the man Gabriella so badly despised.

/

Sharpay had just finished explain the whole thing she had put together just from looks over at the table and what Xavier said and the whole table felt extremely bad for Gabriella's position right now and all had a strong sense of hate towards Jake.

"He's the biggest piece of scum on this planet," Troy spat as his jaw tightened and he looked over his shoulder for the first time and immediately met Gabriella's eyes. She looked away quickly, looking down rather than at the people in front of her.

"I don't know how much more she can take from him," Sharpay admitted.

Troy shook his head, "Let's face it, he's the reason why she's been ignoring me this week," He said bitterly.

Sharpay nodded, "She told me this morning to tell you that she's can't be with you than any other way than just a friend," She shrugged.

"And it's because of that jackass," Troy hissed, his temper raising, "And on Monday, she was singing a whole different tune," He shook his head.

"What did she say?" Sharpay asked, intrigued.

Troy sniffed and shook his head, "Just that everything she said to me the first night I went round hers was still true and if not more so now. That her feelings for me were growing really fast. That she wanted me in more ways than a friend she hangs out with occasionally, she wants to go on dates with me and have me touch her like I do. Even Tuesday morning she said that she wished she could just stay and lay in bed with me and put off reality for a little longer," When he started to talk, the words just fell from his mouth.

"Wow," Sharpay whispered.

Troy let out a deep sigh and shook his head, "And it's because of that dick over there that it makes my life that much harder when he comes to getting her to be with me. Fuck, I hate him, he makes her feel like shit even when he's not with her."

/

Gabriella let out a huge shaky breath as she watched Jake and Danielle drive out of the parking lot in Jake's fancy hired car. She was glad that pretty much straight away when she ensured that her children were fastened in her car safely they had fallen asleep. She slumped and lay back against her car, covering her face with her hands as her silent tears poured down her face while her body shook violently because of the tears and the shock she had endured during the whole dinner.

Her body doubled over as her fingers dug into her scalp all the while the silent tears hurt deep within her body as they spilled down her cheeks, "Ow," She whispered as she cried into her hands.

"Come here," A very familiar woman's voice said from in front of her bent over body, "Sweetie," Sharpay's voice sounding again, this time a little more worried than sad. She guided her upper body straight again slowly and then immediately wrapped her arms around the shaking woman whose hands had not moved from her face, "Oh, babe," Sharpay whispered, gently swaying her from side to side, "It's ok," She soothed, holding her tightly to her, her hand stroking the back of her hair softly.

"What did I do so bad to deserve this?" Gabriella gasped, her chest violently raising and falling.

"Nothing, that's what makes this all so awful. But I promise, it's all going to be ok, I promise," Sharpay said, feeling Gabriella gasp for air, "Shhh," She said softly.

Gabriella abruptly pushing Sharpay away from her, her hands moving from her face for the first time. Her chest was falling and raising quicker and her gasps of air were becoming shallow and short, Sharpay knew that Gabriella was having some sort of anxiety or panic attack, "I can't," She cried, her hand trying to grip onto her skin over her heart.

"Gab, just breathe nice and deep with me," Sharpay said, walking forward again trying to force the worried expression from her face while taking hold of her hands, "Look at me, breathe," Sharpay started to taking in deep breaths and letting them out slowly, trying to calm Gabriella down.

"No," Gabriella yelled, her head falling forward as more tears fell down her face and her breathing was still erratic and her heart was beating quickly, trying to take in as much oxygen as she could.

Troy stepped forward after watching with sadness and concern as Sharpay tried to calm her down, "Hey," Troy said softly, placing gentle hands on each side of her head and tilting it to look at him, being carefully not to cover her ears as it may make her feel more closed in, "You're ok," He said comfortingly, "You're with me, nothing can get to you now, not when I've got you," He whispered, "You know that. Now just start taking some deep breaths for me, focus on only that," He instructed her as he felt her small hands grip on his wrists, "Breathe in slowly," He did it and then let out the breath, "You're doing it with me? Yeah? Breathe in now," He said and watched her eyes fix on his lips, watching as he breathed in the air and then slowly let it out. She started to copy his actions to Troy's relief.

"There you go," Troy smiled softly at her, feeling her grip on his wrists loosen.

Gabriella continued to take deep and slow breaths as her heart rate began to slow down from its erratic pace. Her hands dropped from him and she relaxed back against her car and her head fell forward.

Troy picked up her hands and pressed kisses to each of them, "Better?" He asked.

Gabriella nodded silently, not looking up at him as she now felt extremely embarrassed. She moved away from him and walked around the car away from everybody and slid into the driver's seat, locking her car so nobody could sit in her passenger seat. She didn't look at any of her friends who were standing by her car.

"Mommy?" A sleepy voice sounded from the back.

Gabriella quickly wiped her face using her finger tips and sniffed, trying to look as if she hadn't just broken down right next to her sons, "Yeah baby?" She questioned, turning to face Noah who had his head tilted to the side and a pout on his lips.

"Cuddle," He asked, looking down.

Gabriella couldn't help but smile and she leant in between the seats to unbuckle him and then pick him up which was easy as he was only little. Noah wanted a cuddle and right now, there was nothing more she wanted than to cuddle her son.

"I love you so much," Gabriella said, letting him get comfort in the crook of her neck as she held him up so he could rest there as he wasn't big enough yet to sit on her lap and his head to fall there. She rested her cheek against his warm head and closed her eyes.

"Love you," He replied sleepily.

/

The next morning Gabriella woke up although extremely tired and drained from the night before, she woke with a smile on her face as she had let Xavier and Noah sleep in her bed with her and they were both snuggled together and then snuggled into her. They were still sound asleep even at 8:30am on a Saturday. She had put her cell phone on the do not disturb setting the night before, she rolled over carefully to retrieve it and check if anybody had text her. Her eyebrows had shot up when she saw two text messages from Sharpay and three missed calls from her, one text and one call from Troy, a call last night and a text this morning. They both said things along the line of that they hope she's ok and call when she can. Gabriella lay her cell phone back down and sighed, trying to push the thoughts of the night before out of her head.

A loud knock on her front door a few minutes later made her shoot up and dash down the stairs so the noise wouldn't wake up Xavier and Noah.

"Shhh," Gabriella hissed as she opened the door quickly and came face to face with Sharpay, Zeke, Troy and Chad, "Come in, they're still asleep so please be quiet," She said as she shut the door behind them and followed them into her living room.

"What are you guys doing here so early?" She asked, rubbing her eyes and glancing down to make sure she looked presentable after dashing out of bed. She adjusted her slightly large t-shirt so it wasn't falling off her shoulder anymore and moved her small shorted so they weren't twisted around her.

"We wanted to see if you were ok," Sharpay explained, "You went last night without saying anything and I tried to call to make sure you were ok and we came over but you didn't answer the door but your car was in so we thought we'd just call this morning."

"We fell asleep pretty quick last night," Gabriella explained.

"Are you ok?" Sharpay asked with a concern expression on her face.

"I'm fine. Actually you guys will have to go soon, I promised Xavier and Noah a day of whatever they wanted so I should get them up," Gabriella said awkwardly as she stood in her living room by the fireplace as they sat on the couches.

"As long as Xavier behaved and was nice right?" Troy spoked with a slightly strained voice.

Gabriella didn't fully meet his eyes but she nodded, "Something like that."

"You can't just keep pushing the hurt away," Sharpay blurted out, "It's ok to feel hurt and show it, Gab. Nobody is that strong all the time."

Gabriella looked up at the ceiling, "When you have two kids who know when something is up, then yeah you have to be strong all the time," She answered, "You can't go around being upset because then they get upset."

Sharpay had a deep frown across her forehead, "But after last night, its ok to be hurt and show that you're hurt in front of us."

"I did, that's embarrassing enough so please can you drop it," Gabriella said testily.

Sharpay was getting frustrated but in a sad way, "No!" She exclaimed, "You found out that Jake was seeing that girl when you were pregnant with Noah, that's not ok and you need to deal with those feelings and not push them away!"

Gabriella let out a dark laugh, "You know what? Fine. I thought about it last night, he was with her before I got pregnant with Noah so while he was fucking me, his wife, he was fucking some nineteen year old and I got pregnant which wasn't part of his plan so no wonder he was pissy with me and Noah when he was born, I stopped his plan of fucking off with her and probably to him, I did that on purpose. But you know what makes everything so much better, she wasn't even the one I caught him with on New Years," She laughed again, "You know what? That really did help," She said sarcastically, "I love thinking about it and reliving it, I should think about my feelings more," She nodded, obviously pissed off.

"Gab-" Sharpay sighed.

Gabriella let out a large breath and laughed again, "No, wait there. I need to think some more. So let me just clarify; while I was carrying my cheating ex-husbands baby which was the most difficult pregnancy ever, he was off fucking some other girl. I am lucky."

"Gabriella," Sharpay closed her eyes, "I'm sorry."

Gabriella's shoulder slumped before she shrugged, the fake amusement and sarcastic behaviour seeped out of her to be replaced by hurt. She looked at Troy, "And that is exactly why I can't be with you."

Troy shook his head, "Well I'm not him," He said simply.

Gabriella looked away, "Isn't that how it goes though? You get tied down, you get the girl knocked up, you want someone who can wrap her legs around your neck when you fuck her, you don't want to have to do certain positions because the pregnant girl can't do the ones you normally do so you stray and you hide it and then you get caught and you happily sign the divorce papers and run off to New York, leaving the one you cheated on to bring up two kids while she questions if she ever meant anything to you or whether she had wasted her time and effort on somebody who was only ever with her for a bit of fun," She said calmly.

Troy licked his lower lip, "That was with him, not me," He clenched his jaw, hating the vulgar words falling from her mouth, "And you know what? The other night, I thought it was great, we didn't do any crazy shit but I still had a good time," He practically spat at her.

Gabriella held back a wince, "Troy, we-"

"Yes, I know; we did some stuff you probably couldn't do if you were pregnant but who fucking cares. If I was Jake I'd been fucking ecstatic if you were carrying my second kid. You don't know how lucky you were to have two amazing children who think the world of you. Yes, a jackass helped create them but they are nothing like him, they are all you so stop basing your assumptions of me on him," Troy exclaimed.

"Troy, I had my-" Gabriella shook her head, what she was about to say wasn't appropriate. "Isn't that what always happens though Troy? You'd get bored and leave," Gabriella said almost tiredly with a shrug of her shoulder, restoring back to her previous statement, "Can you guys please go?" She asked.

"I said to Xavier I'd take him on that boat again soon with you and Noah," Troy said abruptly.

Gabriella sighed slightly aggravated, "What?"

"When he came to our table last night, he asked if I would take you, him and Noah on the boat again and he wanted to go to the beach again," Troy explained.

Gabriella's eyes flickered to Sharpay.

"He did," Sharpay confirmed.

"Mom?" Xavier called.

"Living room!" Gabriella shouted back as a couple of minutes later she saw a sleepy Xavier and Noah turn the corner to the living room still in their pyjamas and messy hair. She couldn't help but to smile at them both.

Noah stopped and looked around at all of the people as Xavier walked over to his mother as she sat down and he sat in his lap, laying against her while she asked if he helped Noah down the stairs which he nodded to.

Noah caught sight of Troy and his face brightened up and he began to walk over to him. He leant against Troy's leg, not wanting to ask to be picked up but Troy got the message and lifted the little boy onto his lap. During the evenings Troy spent at this house, sometimes Noah or Xavier would make an appearance or would still be up when he got there so he would talk to them or watch the end of a movie or TV programme with them.

"Missed you," Noah mumbled quietly as he wiggled around in Troy's lap to get comfortable.

Troy didn't look at anyone other than Noah when he spoke but he felt everyone's eyes on him, "Missed you too bud. I miss watching cartoons with you," He mumbled back.

Noah nodded silently.

"Do you wanna go to the beach today?" Troy heard Gabriella murmured to Xavier who instantly picked up and looked over at Troy.

"Can we go on your boat?" Xavier asked.

"You'll have to ask your mom," Troy answered, looking at Gabriella.

Gabriella seemed to soften when she saw Troy slightly hunched over with Noah sat on one of his thighs and his little feet on the other while resting against his chest. She probably shouldn't have let Xavier and Noah get as attached as they were becoming to Troy but her heart couldn't bear the thought of their sad faces if they stopped seeing him.

"Yeah, we can," She answered Xavier, her arms around his waist, "Who's there now?" She asked referring to their business.

"We hired two people so were wouldn't have to bust our asses working six long days a week and one of us on our own for a day because we're open 7 days," Chad shrugged.

Gabriella nodded, "When did this happen?" She asked.

Chad looked at Troy who was in a quiet conversation with the little boy on his lap who was examining one of Troy's large hands.

"Just after you two met," Chad answered, looking back at Gabriella.

"Look how small your hands are," Troy whispered, his head hanging low so it was closer to Noah's, his cheek almost pressed against Noah's forehead.

Noah nodded and stretched out his small hands to try to make them appear bigger which Troy chuckled at and made Noah look up with bright eyes and a smile on his lips.

"Bigger," Noah said simply.

Troy nodded, "Huge now, almost as big as mine," He said quietly, comparing the two.

Noah nodded, "Yeah," He said quietly, looking down at their hands.

Troy smiled softly and let Noah slap his hand to his own repeatedly.

"Cartoon?" Noah asked Troy who had lifted his head a little bit.

Troy raised his eyes to look at Gabriella, "Can he watch a cartoon?" He asked.

Gabriella nodded, "Sure," She said, stroking Xavier's back who was slowly falling back to sleep, "The controls are on the coffee table," She told him and he carefully leant over while keeping hold of Noah to grab them.

"Whoa," Troy joked, pretending to drop him.

Noah squealed and held onto Troy's arm while laughing.

Troy grinned at his reaction, "What do you wanna watch No-Po?" He asked.

Noah shrugged as Troy flicked through the channels, starting to read off some programmes until he agreed on one.

"No-Po?" Chad questioned, raising an eyebrow toward Gabriella who seemed to have relaxed since Noah had wanted to sit in Troy's lap.

Gabriella giggled, "Mhm," She nodded, "Just a nickname he randomly came out with one night," She shrugged, "Noah likes it."

Troy stopped on a channel and put on the programme before he shuffled back against the couch and placed himself more against the corner so Noah could sit straighter and on his lap in the same position Troy was but instead on sitting on the couch, he was sitting in Troy's lap. Troy's hands were on each of his legs, gently patting in time with the music as Noah swayed.

"He loves Troy," Sharpay whispered to Gabriella.

Gabriella looked up and smiled at her blonde friend, "He does. I think it's because he got next to no attention from Jake so when Troy shows him a bit of male attention solely on him, he loves it."

"That's adorable," Sharpay cooed.

"Who's that then?" Troy asked earning a shrug from Noah and he looked down as if he was embarrassed, "We'll have to learn it together then, won't we?" He asked, turning his head to see the side of his face which brightened with a smile and a nod, "Good," He chuckled, holding his hands out palms up as Noah started to place his hands on Troy in a gentle clap which he had started to do the more he saw Troy which Gabriella seemed to think was because he wanted to make sure Troy was still there.

"I can't hear because of your clapping, how will we ever find out his name?" Troy teased, nuzzling just above his ear carefully.

Noah let out a large laugh, titling his head back into Troy's chest where Troy blew on his forehead making a funny noise therefore Noah laughed louder, "Now we've missed his name, Noah, what are we going to do with you?" He tickled his sides making him wriggle and twist until he was hanging over Troy's thigh, his head close to Chad's legs who was grinning at the pair.

"No! Troy!" Noah squealed loudly, reaching up.

Troy pretended to nibble at his hands making him squeal some more and pull his small arms into his chest.

"Noah," Xavier groaned from his place in his mother's lap.

Troy faked a gasp and quickly pulled Noah up and held him around his waist, "Oh no, we've woken your brother up, what do we say?"

"Sorry," Noah answered with a big smile.

"Good," Troy held out his hand for a high five which Noah tried to give him as hard as he could, "Ow," He faked, shaking off his hand.

Noah's eyes widened and leant over in Troy's grasp to kiss his hand, "Sorry."

Troy smiled tenderly at him, "I was only joking but thank you."

Noah simply smiled back before settling back calmly in Troy's lap to continue to watch his cartoon.

"Noah, who do you love more mommy or Troy?" Sharpay asked.

Noah shrugged looking from his mother to Troy, "Mommy?" She questioned, as if he wasn't sure how to answer the question.

"You can love us both, No," Gabriella encouraged which seemed to easy Noah as he relaxed more.

Noah nodded, "Both," He changed his mind with a grin.

Troy kissed the back of Noah's head softly, "Gosh, you sure do chatter a lot over my cartoon," He teased.

"Mine!" Noah exclaimed.

"Ours?" Troy asked.

"Mine!" Noah frowned.

Troy pouted as Noah turned around, kneeling in his lap making Troy let out an 'ompf', "Careful," he choked out.

Chad and Zeke burst out laughing at Troy's pained face as they guessed that Noah had knelt on Troy's crotch. Troy gave them a pained look, gritting his teeth as Noah innocently nodded.

"Do you all want to come to the beach with us today?" Gabriella asked which returned a positive response.

"Guys lets go get Xavier and Noah ready," Sharpay suggested so that Troy and Gabriella could talk before they spent the day together.

"You come?" Noah asked, looking up at Troy.

"Sharpie, Zeke and Chad will help 'cause dude, you're gonna have to spend all day with me," Troy joked.

Noah shook his head, "No," He mumbled, leaning against Troy's chest and gripping his t-shirt.

Troy looked over at Gabriella and shrugged, "Is it ok if I get him ready?" He asked.

Gabriella bit down on her lower lip, "Yeah," She said with a small smile.

Troy nodded and stood up, keeping Noah close to him and he walked away and up to his room which he knew well. Chad and Zeke went to take Xavier to get ready after Sharpay said she needed to talk to Gabriella.

"How have you not fallen for him already?" Sharpay asked with her mouth agape.

Gabriella actually let out a laugh, "I guess I'm a little resilient."

"He's an angel with Noah," Sharpay sighed dreamily.

Gabriella nodded, "He's amazing in a lot of ways."

"In the bedroom?" Sharpay asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

Gabriella blushed, tucking her hair behind her ears, staying quiet.

"That's a yes," Sharpay squealed.

"Maybe it's just because it's been a while, anything might feel good," Gabriella smirked with a little laugh.

Sharpay shrugged, "Maybe. You'll have to try it again," She smirked, "I don't think Troy will mind."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Shut up. I'm going to get ready," She headed for the stairs.

"I'm coming with you. You better where that sexy bikini I made you buy," Sharpay rambled.

"It's tiny!" Gabriella exclaimed.

"Oh please, it's a little Brazilian cut. Stop being dramatic," She scoffed.

"Oh wow. The drama queen tells me _I'm_ dramatic," Gabriella said in disbelief before Sharpay hit the back of her head as they reached her room.

/

Gabriella crouched down on the beach where the water would wash up against her ankles as she and Noah placed sand in a bucket; Gabriella with her hands and Noah with a small spade. They were collecting sand for the castle she, Noah, Xavier, Troy and Chad were building while Zeke and Sharpay made out in the sea.

"Noah, baby," Gabriella laughed, "Hold the spade like this instead, it'll be easier," She said, adjusting it in his grip which earned her a huge smile from her little boy.

"Well, well, well, didn't think I'd see that ass for a while," A voice from behind Gabriella said.

Gabriella tensed and she stood up, turning slowly to face her ex-husband who stood there eyeing up her body from bottom-up, "A while?" She scoffed, "Never again. What are you doing here?"

"I've come to spend some time with my kids before I go back tomorrow," Jake smirked, "Plus it doesn't hurt to see you in a bikini again, you been working out?" He moved his hand to sweep over her backside and her thigh.

"Get your hands off me," Gabriella growled, forcefully moving his arm away from her.

"Just brushing the sand off and it's not like you didn't enjoy it before," He said with a smirk and folded his arms.

Gabriella looked down at Noah who was still concentrating on packing sand into the bucket, "No, you've got a lot of sand there, why don't you take it up to your brother?"

Noah looked up and nodded, lifting the bucket with his little arms.

Gabriella never let him out of her sight as she stood in front of Jake, "Where's your precious girlfriend?" She asked, looking at Noah.

Jake smirked, "Jealous?"

Gabriella's eyes snapped to Jake's amused ones, "No."

"I wanted to spend some alone time with my family, she understood," Jake raised his eyebrows momentarily, "But you look good, pretty girl," He said, running his hand down her arm and gently pulling her to him.

Gabriella shook her head, looking towards the sea as she stood close to him, "How could you?" She whispered.

"What?" Jake asked, frowning.

"How could you be with that girl since before I told you I was pregnant with Noah?" She asked, looking at the horizon.

Jake looked down at her face and for once he actually frowned sadly at the situation they were in, "I'm sorry," He whispered, "The pressure of everything, it was too much for me."

Gabriella looked back at him, her eyes darting from each of his, "Do you not think it was too much for me? But we had a child and one on the way, you don't get to decide if you're ready, you just have to do it because we had two children relying on us to keep them alive."

"I know," Jake croaked out.

Gabriella shook her head, "You don't. You've barely seen them since we split."

"I love you and seeing you just made everything so complicated and hard and confusing," Jake husked, his tanned hands resting on her biceps, "I couldn't see you because all I would want to do is kiss and hold you."

Gabriella looked up, "You talk shit and you wouldn't see your children because you didn't want to see me? If they lived with you, nothing would stop me seeing them and if you tried, I'd take you to court. How does that settle in your stomach and not make you feel sick? The idea of not seeing them?"

Jake shook his head, "I guess I'm good at denying things," He looked up at her, "Like I've been denying that I love you for the past few years. How can I not? You're the mother of my children."

Gabriella pressed her full lips together, "It doesn't matter."

"Of course it matters. You gave birth to my kids, Gab. Of course I love you, how can I not? You're strong, feisty, beautiful, sexy, you've had my kids in you. You'll always hold a special place in my heart," Jake told her, rubbing her arms with his thumbs.

Gabriella rubbed her forehead causing his hands to drop onto her waist. It was a strange feeling, it was familiar yet uncomfortable, "Jake, please just go."

"No, I need you to hear me out, ok? You know I can be a first class jerk. I've been an asshole to you and I understand that you want me to leave but Gab, I love you and I always have, for the past ten years you've had me. I just lost my way and I couldn't deal and yes that makes me weak and really stupid but I'm sorry," Jake said with a frown as he stroked her sides.

Gabriella looked up into his deep brown eyes and felt tears build up in her eyes.

"Don't cry. I hate when you cry," Jake said in a pained voice, bringing her closer to him in a hug.

Gabriella didn't return the hug but let him hug her as silent tears slipped from her eyes, "You make me cry all the time."

Jake pulled back, frowning as he rubbed her cheeks, wiping away the tears, "I don't mean to, I don't like it. I love you, why wouldn't I want to see you anything other than happy."

Gabriella shrugged, closing her eyes, "You don't love me."

"Yes I do," He said firmly, "You're beautiful Gab," He tilted his forehead to rest against hers.

Gabriella kept her eyes closing, feeling him bringing her closer so she was pressed up against him, his arms around her waist and his hands laying low on her back. She felt his nose bump against her cheek; one hand leave her back and tip her chin up. The next thing she knew, his lips were close to hers.

"No," Gabriella flinched back.

/

Troy had been watching the exchange between the former couple, only the 'former' part no longer seemed to be relevant. He sat in the soft sand with Noah in his lap building sand castles and his mom was down the beach making out with her ex-husband, he thought bitterly.

Troy looked away as his eyes nor could his heart take seeing another woman he liked kiss another guy. This time was especially hurtful as he sat babysitting her children while she kissed her ex-husband who treated her horribly.

"Toy?" Noah said quietly.

"Yeah?" Troy asked, shaking his head to clear the thoughts out of his mind to focus on the little boy in front of him who seemed to have grown very attached to him.

"Move hand," Noah said, nudging his large hand out of the way which was blocking his path of making a dip in the sand around the area where the castles would be.

Troy chuckled, "Sorry buddy." He sat up and took off his tee-shirt and realised it had been a while since he had been shirtless at the beach.

"Alright man?" Chad asked, frowning at his friends quietness especially around Noah who he most definitely had a soft spot for.

Troy nodded, "Yeah," He sighed heavily.

"Troy!" Xavier shouted, running up to them with football in his hands.

"Hey dude," Troy replied.

"Can we play?" Xavier asked with a grin.

Troy chuckled at the excited look on his face, "Sure. Put a little more sun lotion on your shoulders and face though; they look a bit red."

"Ok."

Troy looked over at Chad who had a smirk on his face, "Daddy Bolton."

Troy glared at him and flipped him off quickly.

"Noah, you wanna play?" Xavier asked, "Chad?"

"Yeah," Noah grinned, standing up.

"Sure, its on. Teams?" Chad questioned.

"Me and Troy against you and Noah?" Xavier said.

"Sure, lets go," Troy grinned, bumping fists with Xavier as they walked to where there was a fairly large flat area of unoccupied sand.

Troy and Xavier stood one side of the pitch they had drawn out and Chad and Noah stood the other. Troy threw the ball to Xavier who attempted to run but was quickly grabbed with Chad and swung around until the ball came free due to Xavier's laughing. Noah ran to the ball but struggled to pick it up and Sharpay came running out of nowhere and helped him pick up the ball and run down the sand. Troy 'quickly' ran and swooped Noah up and ran to the other end with him while Xavier plucked the ball from his brother's grasp and ran to the other end with a cheer.

"Yeah!" Troy shouted, ruffling Noah's hair before placing him down and jogging over to Xavier and they high fived.

"Cheat!" Sharpay exclaimed.

Troy let out a large laugh, "Hell no! Three against two isn't fair, you're the cheat."

"You're not cheating are you Mr Bolton?" A sultry voice came from behind him, placing their small hand on his hand.

Troy shrugged her off, "Fuck off," He murmured to her and walked away, "Come on then Shar, if you think you can beat me and Xavier with three people on your team."

"Let's go!" Chad roared playfully.

"Actually I'm gonna let you boys play. Too much testosterone," She shuddered jokingly and walked over to where Gabriella stood with her lips pressed together.

/

"What was all that about?" Sharpay asked with a frown, "Did Troy tell you to fuck off?" She asked as they sat in the sand, enjoying the sun.

Gabriella nodded, "Things are so complicated. I'm so confused," She sighed.

"Why?" Sharpay asked simply.

Gabriella ran both of her hands through her hair, "Jake was here for like a few minutes but he's left. He kept going on about how he still loves me and how he made a mistake and he's sorry and he was calling me beautiful and… he kissed me."

"What?" Sharpay exclaimed, "Gabriella, please tell me you didn't kiss him back."

Gabriella shook her head, "It was over within a second, I moved away and told him I didn't love him anymore but I think Troy saw."

"Oh."

"But I'm 90% sure that Jake won't see the kids unless we're together. Do I see him and may be try again with him or do I let my kids not have their dad in their lives?" Gabriella questioned out loud.

"You can't get back with him!"

"Why? If it means that they'd have their dad then I'd do it."

"What about Troy?"

"What about him?" Gabriella sighed, "He's not a factor in whether they see Jake or not."

"If you're thinking of the possiblity of getting back with Jake then of course he's a factor," Sharpay said in surprise, "Has he messed your head up that much that you don't care about Troy's position in this?" She asked.

"Troy has no position in this!" Gabriella exclaimed, "None. If it meant Xavier and Noah would see Jake then I'd stop seeing Troy in a heartbeat."

Sharpay pressed her lips together, "But they love him, you see that, right?"

Gabriella slumped, "Yes. I would never stop them seeing him."

"Then you'd have to see him."

"It wouldn't matter."

Sharpay tilted her head to the side and looked over at where Chad, Troy, Xavier, Noah and now Zeke were playing, "If I were you. That alone," She nodded her head over to the boys, "Would make me throw away all ideas of getting back together with Jake."

"You wouldn't care if they didn't see their dad consistently?" Gabriella asked.

"No. Being someone's partner and being a dad are two different things and they can be done separately and if Jake doesn't want to parent two of the most amazing boys I've met then that's his problem not yours," Sharpay shrugged, "My opinion."

Gabriella let out a huge breath, "My head," She complained.

"Xavier and Noah have amazing people around them, if I do say so myself," Sharpay grinned. Gabriella laughed, "They do and as long as you don't stop Jake from seeing them and keep that door open then your relationship with them will be good. They have so many people who love them."

Gabriella finally looked up at the male figures in her life and her eyes fixed on Troy who, with the help of Chad, had Xavier by his legs and Chad had him by his arms and they were swinging him in punishment of their loss but Xavier didn't seem to mind as he laughed loudly.

Noah was cheering next to him and Troy said something to him to make him taking a step backwards and turn around running before Troy, Xavier and Chad ran after him while Zeke walked up the beach toward the two girls.

"Hello ladies," Zeke greeted.

"Hello gorgeous," Sharpay smiled brightly.

Gabriella looked over and smiled, "Hey."

"Are you ok?" Zeke asked with a frown.

Gabriella smiled wider in an attempt to convince him, "Yeah, I'm great."

"She's thinking of getting back with Jake," Sharpay said as Zeke settled behind her to rest against his chest.

"What?" Zeke said in surprise, "Why?"

Gabriella shrugged, looking out at the sea, "I'm gonna take a walk, think about some things. Will you watch Xavier and Noah please?"

"Sure," Sharpay nodded with a small smile.

Gabriella stood up and picked up her strappy mid-thigh dress before putting it on and walking away down to the water which she started to walk along in hope it would help her figure out her thoughts and emotions and her huge situation.

/

"Where's mom?" Xavier asked as they went back to base after playing around a little more.

"She's taking a walk," Sharpay answered which seemed to ease Xavier curiousness but enhance Troy's however he stayed quiet.

"Go find her please Troy," Sharpay said.

"No," Came the blunt answer from the bulky man.

"Now," Sharpay said firmly.

"No," Troy laughed coldly.

"Whoa," Zeke said with raised brows.

Troy shrugged.

/

"I'll see you soon," Troy said as he hugged Xavier and Noah together before he stood back with Chad.

Xavier and Noah climbed into Zeke's car where Zeke was in the driver's seat and Sharpay was outside, leaning against the passenger seat door.

"See you soon," Gabriella said to Chad hugging him.

"Definitely," Chad grinned, returning her hug.

"Troy?" Gabriella questioned softly when he had moved away from Chad.

"I don't want to talk to you," Troy said bluntly, folding his arms, "I don't want to see you. So don't try to hug me or anything of that shit," He said quietly.

"You don't know it all," Gabriella protested, "You have no idea how hard this is."

Troy shrugged, "I don't but I'm not making it any harder for you. Go back to your cheating ex but you're not fucking better. You fed me a bunch of bullshit and then kissed him. The guy who also treats his kids like shit," He said angrily.

Gabriella brought her hand up to whip it around his face but Troy caught her hand and pushed it off to the side.

"Don't you dare slap me," Troy hissed.

Gabriella frowned at him, "You're making it out like I'm the worst person for wanting a family."

"There's nothing wrong with that but how you've dealt with this whole situation is disgusting, you've treated me like shit," Troy scoffed, shaking his head.

"Guys, come on. Don't fight in front of them," Sharpay said, placing her hand on Gabriella's arm.

Gabriella looked up into Troy's eyes, "I never meant to hurt you," She whispered.

Troy lifted one shoulder, "I don't know Gab, I don't understand."

"I want a family," She said simply, only slightly recognising the fact that Sharpay and Chad had each gone to their own cars to give the two some space.

"Family doesn't have to be blood related, Gabriella," Troy told her.

Gabriella jittered a little on the spot but quickly bringing her hands to her face, "I don't know what to do Troy," She whispered.

Troy closed his eyes for a moment, taking a hold of her wrists and bringing her hands away from her face. He silently brought her into his embrace, holding her firmly to his chest, "Its ok," He muttered.

"I'm hurting someone whatever I do," Gabriella complained, looking up at him.

Troy looked down at her and brushed her hair away with his fingers, "You do whatever is best from Xavier and Noah, forget anyone else," He husked, "They're your number one priority."

Gabriella nodded, "How do you know so much about being a parent, you're better at it than me."

Troy smiled and let out a breath of laughter, "I don't think so. I never told you but my girlfriend in high school, the one I was with in the first bit of college?" Gabriella nodded to confirm she knew who he was talking about, "We-she was pregnant for a few months so my mom and dad kinda told me somethings."

Gabriella stood there quietly.

"She… We lost the baby when she was pretty far along… a miscarriage. Erm…" Troy licked his lips and nodded, "Yeah."

"Maybe that's why you are so good with Xavier and Noah," Gabriella stated quietly.

Troy shrugged, "I just know that I'd do anything for that little boy. I have a lot of guilt over me for that time in my life," He nodded.

"A boy?"

"Mhm."

"I'm so sorry," Gabriella whispered.

Troy smiled softly, "Its fine. Earlier today when Shar asked Noah who he loved more me or you, fuck," He said, looking up feeling tears springing to his eyes.

Gabriella touched the side of his torso gently, "Its ok, you don't need to explain," She said, leaning forward to kiss between his collarbones.

Troy pressed the heel of his hands against his eyes, "You should go," He muttered, "I'll see you around," He breathed shakily, turning around and walking away. Her hands falling from his body.

/

"Goodnight, I love you," Gabriella said, kissing Xavier's head as tucking him into bed, turning out the light and walking downstairs to where Sharpay was.

"So how did your walk help things?" Sharpay asked.

Gabriella shrugged, "Troy helped more I think."

Sharpay frowned, "Hmmm?" She asked.

Gabriella nodded, tucking her legs up to her chest, "Yeah. He said some things that made me realise that people do anything to have kids and some can't and that's not ok because those people would treat their kids amazingly and it must be so frustrating for those who struggle to have children or can't have them to see people messing their kids around, you know?"

"And Troy made you realise this?"

"Yeah," Gabriella breathed a smile occupied her face, "I don't want Jake as my boyfriend or anything like that. He can see his children but I'm not getting back with him."

"Yay!" Sharpay cheered.

Gabriella laughed, "Troy means to much to me to ever get back with Jake. He treats me so well and…" Gabriella bit down on her lower lip, sighing happily, "I don't know what I'd do without him anymore."

Sharpay had a wide smile on her face, "Wow."

Gabriella giggled, holding a cushion to her chest, "Oh god, Shar," She groaned happily, "He's so amazing."

Sharpay smirked, "Someone sounds like she wants Troy Bolton in her bed right now."

"Just thinking about him…" Gabriella trailed off, "He's perfect."

Sharpay smiled genuinely this time, "I'm glad you have found someone who makes you happy."

Gabriella sighed, "I don't know how happy he is with me though."

Sharpay shook her head, "Troy Bolton has a soft spot for the Montez family, it'll be ok."

Gabriella pressed her lips together, "Seriously though Shar," She smiled, "He's incredible in every way."

"The sex?" Sharpay asked.

Gabriella sighed with a slight groan to her voice, "There are no words," She smiled, covering her face as a blush tinted her cheeks.

"I think someone might be falling for the hot beach boy," Sharpay said with a small smile.

Gabriella swallowed, "Me too," She whispered.

"Then go get your man, Montez," Sharpay encouraged.

"Shar, it's like 8:30pm, I can't just go now!" Gabriella exclaimed.

"Well in non-baby world, 8:30pm isn't late at all," Sharpay teased, "Go! I'll get Zeke to come over and we'll watch Xav and Noah."

Gabriella bit down on her lower lip, "Are you sure?" She asked.

"Yes! He needs to know you like him," Sharpay pushed her off the couch, "Now go!"

"In this?" Gabriella looked down at her yoga pants and sweatshirt.

"Yes!" Sharpay repeated.

"Ok," Gabriella said nervously, standing up and pulling down her sweatshirt.

"Go!"

"I'm going! Geez," She said, walking toward the small table in her hall way to pick up her keys, "Thank you! I'll be back! Bye!"

"You better not be back until tomorrow morning!" Sharpay shouted back.

/

Gabriella hesitantly got out of her car, pushing away the idea of turning away and going home. She walked toward Troy's front door and knocked. She stood nervously playing with the end of her sweatshirt while her heart beat pumped quickly and vigorously.

"Gabriella?" The husky voice asked.

Gabriella looked up quickly. Her nervousness had distracted her that much that she never realised the door opening and an extremely handsome figure stood smirking in front of her.

"Troy," Gabriella gasped.

Troy smirked even more, "Yeah, don't sound so surprised. This is my house."

"Right. I'm at your house," Gabriella said as if just remembering where she was, "Yeah, I've gotta get going," She gestured behind her towards her car, "See ya," She turned to walk away.

Troy grinned at her, "Gab, come here," He chuckled, taking her by the arm to gently pulling her to his chest with a soft thud.

That contact was all Gabriella seemed to need to take her away from being like an awkward teenager and stand on her tip toes to press her lips firmly to Troy's. Troy immediately responded, wrapping his arms around her tiny waist and kissing her back equally as passionately.

"I was talking about you to Shar and it made me want you… so bad," Gabriella admitted as she pulled away from his lips to kiss his ear lobe, jaw and neck.

Troy's jaw clenched, revelling in the feel of her lips, teeth and tongue on his skin, "Hmmm," He moaned quietly, "I don't even have to talk about you to want you," He whispered, quickly claiming her lips again as his hands grasped at her back while hers ran through his styled hair.

Troy introduced his tongue into the kiss while one of his hands travelled down to squeeze her behind. They continued to kiss passionately and hungrily for the next ten minutes, their hands becoming more blunt in their actions, grasping and clawing at areas of each other.

"Troy?" A male voice said from behind him.

Troy paused in the kiss, his tongue firmly planted in Gabriella's mouth retreated, his hand that held the material of her sweatshirt in his fist loosened and his other hand that held the back of her head fell to his side.

Troy pressed her lips together, wiping over them. He cleared his throat, "Right, family. Erm," He looked back at Gabriella who had slightly red and swollen lips and her eyes were wide looking up at him. He couldn't help but smile as her seemingly innocent, deer-caught-in-headlights kind of look, "This is my brother Dylan and Dyl, this is Gabriella."

Gabriella opened her mouth to speak but bit down on her lower lip before answering, "Hi, its nice to meet you," She said quite croakily causing her to cough lightly.

"Hey, you too. Troy's told me a little about you," Dylan informed.

"Oh really?" Gabriella said, nervously biting her lip and looking up at Troy.

Troy smirked, "Good things," He winked, kissing her forehead before turning back to Dylan, "Gives us a minute?" He asked and Dylan nodded before walking away back into Troy's houses.

Gabriella now heard male voices talking and laughing. She looked at Troy's attire; black pants with an off-white shirt, rolled up at the sleeves, "Oh," She said, "You're going out."

Troy smiled and nodded, "Yeah, erm, my family is inside. We're going to a late dinner."

"Oh," She said.

"They surprised me with a visit, they were waiting here when I got back," Troy explained.

Gabriella nodded.

Troy curled the sides of his mouth, "Do you want to come with us?" He asked.

Gabriella shook her head, "I can't like this," She said, flapping her arms at her sides so her palms hit her thighs.

Troy bit down on his lower lip, "I don't want you to leave," He whispered, running his thumb over her cheek, "Not now."

Gabriella looked away, knowing that was due to her changing her mind all the time, "It'll still be the same another night."

Troy gave her a look.

"Have a good night, ok?" Gabriella said as she backed away.

"Gabriella," Troy sighed, stepping outside and walked down the steps to her, "Can I come over tomorrow?"

Gabriella pressed her lips together, "Maybe," She shrugged.

"I'm sorry," Troy whispered, running his thumb across her cheek before curling his fingers around her head.

"Don't be," She smiled, "Have a good time with your family."

Troy smiled gently, "Thanks, I'll try, " He leaned down to kiss her softly before she licked her lips, looked down and turned away; without another look back at him she got into her car and drove away.

"So that was the girl, huh?" Dylan said from behind him as Troy leant against the doorway.

"Yep," He said shortly, "I don't know when she'll be in one of those… moods again," He shrugged.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

Troy licked his lips, "When she remembers that she's still a woman with needs and puts herself close to first and she actually shows me that she likes me and doesn't feel like she shouldn't just because she has two children."

Dylan nodded slowly, "Right."

Troy shrugged, "Are mom and dad ready?" He asked.

"I think so," Dylan said.

/

 _I'd really like it if you came mine tonight, maybe for a drink? X_

Troy typed away on his cell phone before slipping it back into his pocket and finishing up his dessert.

"Ok, I can't hold back any longer. Troy, Gabriella was at your house tonight?" Lucille Bolton asked with a kind smile on her face.

Troy narrowed his eyes at his brother for blabbing the information to his parents. He looked over at his mom, "Yeah, she was."

"Did you invite her?" She asked.

Troy ran his hand threw his hair, "Not before she showed up but I asked if she wanted to join us but," He shrugged, his cell phone vibrating.

 _Will your parents and brother be there? X_

 _Yeah, they're staying the night but they'd like to meet you… no pressure x_

Troy looked up from his cell phone, "I've only known her for about three weeks so I'm not exactly sure that she wants to meet you guys yet," He said, honestly.

"Why wouldn't you want your _friend_ to meet us yet?" Jack Bolton asked.

Troy shrugged at his dad, "Well we've been on a date and I really want to take her out again so… maybe the friend bit is… temporary. I hope."

 _I think I'd like to come over but promise you won't leave me? X_

Troy smirked at this: _Alright, you little teen ;) see you later xxx_

* * *

I've started to write the next chapter so hopefully it won't be too long for the next chapter. Thank you for reading. I hope you liked it. Please review and tell me your thoughts :)


End file.
